Appearances Can Be Deceptive
by blowflylaura
Summary: Rachel's been invited to her best friend's wedding and she doesn't want to go alone. Who better to act as a girlfriend then the girl she's currently enjoying a friends with benefits relationship with. What if the make-believe suddenly becomes a reality?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: These characters belong to the creators of Glee, I own nothing. If I did, Faberry would most definitely be a couple.

Authors Note: This is the first story I've ever written for Faberry so I hope I do it justice. I'm not sure whether my characterisation of everybody is going to be right but I hope its okay, if not feel free to give me some constructive criticism. For the purpose of this story, Quinn wasn't in Glee Club, she didn't go to McKinley, and she didn't even live in Ohio. She is also punk Quinn because I do love punk Quinn. It's unbetaed so any mistakes are mine.

I hope you enjoy it, reviews would be lovely but as long as somebody reads this, then I'm happy.

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><p><strong>Chapter 1:<strong>

_You are cordially invited to celebrate  
>the wedding of<br>Kurt Hummel  
>and<br>Blaine Anderson_

I skim over the remaining details, the date, time and location of the wedding. I already know the details; this invitation is merely a formality. The betrothed couple didn't see the point of sending out invitations because all their friends and family already know the plan but I had insisted that it was still proper procedure to send out wedding invitations. I can't speak for anybody else but when I saw the invitation arrive in the post, I suddenly came over all excited, like a child before Christmas.

They've been together ever since high school and I always knew that they would make it. They still look at each other the same way they did in high school. Not many couples still have that look of adoration for one another but they most definitely do. The wedding was to be held on Friday but Kurt and Blaine had always been an extravagant couple so instead of just having the normal wedding and reception, the couple have decided to have a week-long celebration. When I asked why, Kurt told me that they would do anything to prolong the party. In two days' time, the happy couple had requested the company of myself and the rest of our old Glee Club at their home for a week-long catch up before the wedding.

The prospect of seeing everybody again genuinely excited me. In my first year at NYADA, I found it increasingly difficult to keep in touch with everybody from Glee. I sent the odd message every now and again to Mercedes and Tina, asking how they were but that was it. I attended Mike and Tina's wedding four years ago and Sam and Mercedes' wedding two years ago but a fleeting attendance at their weddings didn't really give me a chance to catch up with everybody.

Kurt and Blaine were the only two people from high school that I still religiously kept in contact with. The first few years whilst we were at NYADA, Kurt and I enjoyed what New York had to offer. We went to Broadway shows and wasted all our money on souvenirs and show memorabilia. When Blaine joined us a year later, we had our own little trio and nobody else mattered. I never really had a best friend until I met Kurt and now I class Blaine as one as well. I'm pleased that after seven years, mine and Kurt's friendship is still as solid as ever, whilst mine and Blaine's is getting stronger every day.

Aside from seeing everybody from Glee Club at the weddings, I rarely speak to them. I send and receive a text message every Christmas, wishing them all a Merry Christmas and I receive similar texts back, most of them pleasant, Santana's text holding sarcastic comments even though I sense she doesn't mean them. When Tina had her first baby two years, I sent flowers to the hospital and wished her well in a phone call but my busy work schedule kept me from flying to North Carolina to see the new parents. Likewise, when Mercedes and Sam had twins six months ago, they received the same presents as Tina and Mike had, but I didn't fly to Kentucky.

Although I have fond memories from high school, Glee Club winning Nationals in our final year and my boyfriend being just two, up until senior year, I was effectively an outside, to some people, a loser. I received slushie facials on a daily basis, despite Glee Club having a rising popularity, it still remained one of the lowest clubs on the totem pole and as a result, it's members were seem as the lowest people in school. The Cheerios, Santana and Brittany, managed to avoid the slushies, although that was only due to the fact that the football and hockey players were scared of Santana's temper.

That being said, everybody feared Santana's temper.

Ever since freshman year, I had watched Finn Hudson from afar and for lack of a better word, I pined after him. Most boys when they looked at me didn't see a gorgeous girl that they wanted to date or sleep with, they saw somebody that they could make fun of, somebody that they could tease mercilessly. I never expected Finn to look at me the way I looked at him but in junior year, everything changed. He asked me out and it was the happiest day of my high school life. We were happy for about a year until I realised that he didn't understand how important my dreams were. He didn't understand that NYADA was my dream. He didn't understand that until I stood on a Broadway stage, I had not achieved my dread. I couldn't be with somebody who tried to stand in the way of my dreams.

Needless to say our relationship didn't survive much longer.

I haven't spoken to Finn since we both left high school. He stayed in Ohio whilst I jetted off to New York. I saw him briefly at the weddings but didn't stop to talk to him. He was my first kiss, my first time and my first love, deep down I will always have feelings for him. I don't think I realised that until I saw him at Mike and Tina's wedding and I felt slight butterflies but I know that we'll never be together again.

Whenever Kurt goes back home to Lima, he tells me that Finn has asked after me. He tells me that Finn said he was proud of me and I have to admit, that makes me happy.

I glace at my computer to see the email that Kurt had sent only several weeks ago.

_Fellow Glee-clubbers,_

_As you are all aware, I am now only weeks away from settling down with my beautiful fiancé, after he finally popped the question. I must say, he certainly took his time doing that, I was beginning to think it was never going to happen and we all know that marrying Blaine is something which just needs to happen._

_Aside from coming to our wedding, Blaine and I would also love it if you could all come down to our home in New York on July the 9__th__ with the wedding being held on Friday the 13__th__. And I don't want anybody being dramatic about the date. Yes, that means you Rachel. _

_We hope you can all make it; it would be lovely to see the old Glee Club back together. Oh, I almost forgot, please feel free to bring a significant other. The more the merrier in our eyes. _

_Love Kurt and Blaine._

'Please feel free to bring a significant other.' That was the only part of the invite which worried me. I didn't have a significant other. I knew that Mercedes would be with Sam, Tina would be with Mike, and Blaine had told me that Santana and Brittany were still a couple. That was three couples already, four if you count Blaine and Kurt. I didn't want to turn up alone. I didn't want to be the only woman there without a date; I didn't want to admit to everybody that I was still single.

The email had been sent to everybody in our old Glee Club, even Mr Schue, although he had replied saying that he and Emma would make the wedding but unfortunately they were busy during the week.

I glanced at the cat calendar in the corner of my room; it may no longer have people's faces in but having a cat calendar has become somewhat a tradition each year. July the 7th. I had two days before I had to drive to Kurt and Blaine's and I refused to turn up alone. It has been about a month since I'd spoken to either of the couple, planning their wedding has taken up a lot of their time, at first I had been upset about the lack of contact with my friends but now I realise that it could work to my advantage. I could have been seeing somebody for a couple of months and we were taking things slow, that's why I kept it a secret. We didn't want to tell anybody in case we jinxed our relationship.

Its early days.

That's what I'd say.

Only problem is, I have no idea who to take

After Finn, I remained single for several years, concentrating on my work rather than a relationship. I also decided to stay celibate until I was 25, I may have broken my original promise to stay a virgin till that age but I could amend the rule slightly. However, I disappointed myself because that didn't last either. Two months after my twenty-first birthday, I met Rob.

He was kind, good-hearted and gorgeous. Everything you could want in a man. He treated me like a princess and I loved him. I really did. But there was always something missing, it just didn't feel right. We were together for just over a year before I ended things.

He was in love with me and would have done anything for me but I didn't feel the same. It wasn't right to keep dating him when he would also hope for more and I would never be able to deliver. My daddy always said that when he met my dad, it was love at first sight. A cliché, but I like clichés. I wanted that feeling that my parents experienced, I wanted to meet somebody and just instantly know that we were destined to be together.

After a very drunken wrap party for my latest play on Broadway, I woke up next to a strange woman. It didn't take me long to piece together the events of the previous night and it took me even less time to realise that I had enjoyed my encounter with the woman.

That was when I realised why something had been missing with Rob.

It wasn't that I wasn't interested in him; I was just interested in girls more.

After being brought up by two gay dads, I had contemplated the possibility of being gay myself but nothing ever happened to make me believe that I was. I didn't find myself staring at girls more than guys, if anything it was the other way around. Up until I was 25, I truly believed that I was straight and that one night made me realise I wasn't.

When I told Kurt about my recent epiphany, he asked the obvious question. 'Was I gay?' Before I could answer he told me that whether I was or not wouldn't affect our friendship, granted I already knew that. He would be a hypocrite if he turned away a friend who was gay after all the struggles he went through during high school.

I told him that I didn't believe sexuality was simply black and white, it could be all different shades of grey. I told him that I wasn't gay but I wasn't straight even. If I fell in love with a man then so be in, if I fell in love with a woman then so be it. I told him that it didn't matter to me what gender the person was, just who they were as a person.

That was six months ago now and I still maintain that philosophy. My parents didn't even bat an eyelid when I told them that I liked girls as well as guys. They smiled and said they knew, they always had. When I asked them how they knew, they had laughed and said it was obvious. I wanted to probe further but I didn't think it would be useful.

The sound of my phone vibrating against my desk brought me out of my reverie.

_My flatmate is doing my head in! She's having angry sex with her boyfriend. I'm coming over._

I couldn't help the smile which filled my face as the message from Quinn filled my screen.

_You know it is common procedure to ask before just inviting oneself to somebody else's home. It is courteous if nothing else._

I reply before running my fingers through my hair. My relationship with Quinn is a complicated one at that. We met in a bar one night and she bought me a drink. At first I refused, mainly from shock more than anything else, nobody had ever bought me a drink in a bar before so I was sure she must have an ulterior motive. I planned to leave the bar, leave her but there was something about her which made me stay. Several hours later we were in her bed, naked and revelling in ecstasy after a very rushed encounter.

Lying in her bed, naked and covered only by a thin sheet, it hit me. I'd just had my second one-night stand with a girl. That wasn't me. I didn't just sleep with people I didn't know yet within several months I had done it twice.

However, the strangest thing was that it didn't feel strange. Quinn seemed to feel the same and it happened again and again. She would come over to my apartment late at night and I would do the same. We were booty-calls but neither of us liked that label. Quinn said it reminded her of university when students slept around. Instead we agreed to be friends with benefits.

Although we were friends with benefits, a friendship never really appeared. We never talked about anything, we just had sex.

It may seem strange but it worked for us.

My phone vibrated once more and twenty minutes has passed since my last text.

_I thought I had an open invitation to your flat whenever I wanted ;)_

I smirk slightly before responding.

_You do. But that doesn't mean that it still isn't polite to ask. I may have company for all you know._

The response was instantaneous.

_I highly doubt you have company considering all I can hear is silence. _

My eyebrows furrow at her response but before I can reply, there's a knock at the front door. Just like that I understand what her previous message meant. I didn't need to open the door to know that Quinn would be standing on the other side. I place my phone on the kitchen counter and open the door, greeting Quinn with a smile.

She gives me a wide smile in return before immediately throwing her jacket over the back of the sofa and taking a seat. She brushes some of her cropped pink hair out of her face before reaching into her jacket pocket and withdrawing a cigarette.

"Quinn!" My sudden exclamation causes her to look over her shoulder, the cigarette in her mouth, lighter poised and ready in her hand. "How many times have I told you that you cannot smoke in here?" Quinn shrugs her shoulders before lighting the cigarette anyway. "You can't do that. Aside from the fact that I haven't given you permission to smoke in my apartment, it is a disgusting habit and is slowing destroying your body."

Quinn takes a drag of her cigarette before walking towards my balcony and stepping through the sliding door. I watch as she exhales the smoke before turning towards me with a quirked eyebrow. "Better princess?" She shouts slightly from behind the glass door to make sure I can hear her.

I grab Quinn's jacket and hang it up on my coat rack. One thing I've learnt about Quinn is that she doesn't seem to clean up after herself. She leaves her mess behind; I don't know whether she expects me to clean up after her or whether I do it because I can't stand the mess. I step outside to join Quinn. "Thank you, for future reference I would appreciate it if you did this straight away."

Quinn takes another drag and exhales the smoke away from me. She places her free hand against her chest in mock disappointment. "But my visit to you isn't complete unless you rant at me for smoking inside your apartment and if you're in an especially good mood, smoking period."

"Well if you just quit smoking altogether, we needn't have this discussion."

Quinn watches the cigarette burn down slowly. "I can't. Smoking keeps me sane."

"I'm sure you're sane enough without them."

Quinn drops the cigarette to the ground before squashing it with her foot. "Sorry for the mess," she says as she follows my gaze to the butt on the ground.

"Better here than in my living room," I reply. "I mean if you dropped your cigarette butt on my carpet…"

I'm cut off as Quinn grabs my waist and pulls me closer to her, her lips crashing against mine. "You talk too much," she whispers the words against my lips before I grasp the hem of her top between my fingers, swiftly pulling it over her head.

I gesture my head to the right. "Inside."

She nods before taking the lead and walking backwards to my bedroom, never once breaking the kiss. Her hands skim over my lower back, causing goose-bumps to appear on my skin. I can feel her fiddling with the buttons on my shirt before I hear them hitting the floor simultaneously as my shirt is ripped off my body, before my shirt joins the buttons.

This is what always happens. Our encounters are rushed and hurried. We never take our time and instead of paying attention to every part of each other's body, we just do what is necessary. If we concentrate and slow things down, we're crossing the line from casual sex into something more and that is a line neither one of us wants to cross.

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><p>Sometimes, after we've slept together, Quinn stays. Sometimes we grab some food or watch a movie. Sometimes, I like those moments most. Because for a few moments, I don't feel like all she wants is sex, for just a few moments, I feel special. Today, however, isn't one of those days. It's like the majority of times we see each other, she's leaving straight away. I don't know where she goes, part of me wonders whether she's going to go and see another friend with benefits but I never voice my concern.<p>

Instead I choose to ignore it.

She's half-way to pulling her jeans up when she speaks. "So I'll see you same time on Monday?" She throws me a cheeky wink as she always does.

"I'm not here," I say. "I'm away for the next week, got a wedding to go to."

"Since when do weddings last for an entire week?" She disappears momentarily to grab her top which is currently residing on the ground of the balcony before reappearing now fully dressed.

"They don't." I sit up, bunching the duvet against my chest to prevent it from falling down. No matter how many times we've slept together, I still feel self-conscious about my body, even more so when we're not in the heat of the moment. With Quinn, as gorgeous as she is, now fully dressed, I feel self-conscious about my nakedness. "The wedding is on Friday, the other four days are a sort of catch-up with old friends."

Quinn looks over her shoulder at me. "Sounds like you'll have a jolly good old time."

I remain quiet as she glances at her reflection in the mirror, fixing her hair when it hits me. I want somebody to come with me to the wedding; somebody I can pretend is my significant other. I think that person is standing five feet away from me. "Come with me."

Quinn scoffs loudly but doesn't stop her ministrations, if anything her hands run through her hair at a faster pace. "Please tell me I'm still in a sex-induced haze and I'm not hearing properly because otherwise it sounded like you just invited me to some random person's wedding."

"Not some random person's wedding, they're my friends," I state. "And you heard correctly, I invited you to the wedding."

This time she turns around. "Why?"

I sigh heavily before answering honestly. "The invite said feel free to bring significant others and as you're well aware, I don't have one. You're about as close as I have and I don't want to be the only one there without a partner."

She hesitates for a moment and I think she's contemplating it. "I don't do weddings Rachel."

"Why not?"

"Because weddings are about solidifying your love for another person, there about saying you're going to be with one person for the rest of your life," she says quickly. "Weddings are about giving people happy endings and I don't believe in that."

"Which part exactly?"

She runs her fingers through her hair once more; I gather it's a nervous habit. "I just don't believe in weddings full stop. Weddings are just another way for people to make money. Aside from that one in three marriages ends in divorce, so technically you're celebrating that statistic. I don't go to weddings, let alone go to ones of people I don't even know."

"I had no idea you were so cynical."

"I'm not cynical, I'm realistic," she comments, buttoning up her jeans. "You should try it sometime, that way you wouldn't invite me to a wedding because you'd already know the answer would be no."

I can sense that she is close to walking away, she wants this conversation to come to an end but if there is one thing people say about me, it's that I'm relentless. "Please come with me Quinn," I plead. "We're friends right?"

She quirks her eyebrow at me, we don't normally define our relationship as friends.

"Look it's just for five days and then you can pretend that you never went," I bargain, watching as her eyes narrow in thought. "You don't even really have to do anything; just pretend to be my girlfriend."

"Hold up." She walks towards me, holding her hands up. "You didn't say anything about pretending to be together."

My eyebrows furrow in confusion. "I mentioned people were bringing their significant others and I wanted you to come. What part of that didn't make it clear that I wanted you to come as my significant other?"

"I thought you just meant come with you to keep you company," she answers. "You really need to be clearer when you talk."

My mouth opens in shock. "I need to be clearer. Excuse me, I am very clear when I speak, I've always prided myself on my eloquence. It's not my fault if you didn't understand the message."

Quinn shakes her head and ignores my latest outburst. "Right, so you want me to pretend to be your girlfriend for five days." I nod my head. "What do I get out of it?"

"You get a five day mini-break, I'll pay for everything that needs paying for so you don't have to worry about the financial aspect and obviously our current relationship will continue," I state. "If that's what you're worried about, we can still have sex. After all, people in relationships have sex."

She smirks widely at me. "And this whole relationship thing, it is just pretend right? I mean this isn't your way of telling me something is it?"

My eyes widen at her question. "Yes of course! Quinn, I like you and you are amazing in bed but I do not like you like that. I most certainly do not want to be in a relationship with you, the whole significant other thing will just be a massive pretence."

She sits down on my bed, grabbing the duvet with her left hand and tugging it down, exposing myself to her. A pink tint fills my cheeks as her eyes hungrily explore my chest. She leans closer to me. "Okay, I'll do it. But you owe me." She captures my lips and pushes me backwards until my back hits the bed and her body covers mine. "And I think I'll take what you owe me right now." She gives me a cheeky smile before placing soft kisses on my collarbone.

I tangle my fingers in her hair as her kisses move lower.

For the first time in my life, I have a girlfriend.

Part of me thinks that this is going to be great fun, but the other part of me thinks that this is going to be one of the hardest things I've ever done.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: These characters belong to the creators of Glee, I own nothing. If I did, Faberry would most definitely be a couple.

Authors Note: I don't know what else to say other than wow! I didn't think people would like this but I got more reviews than I had expected and the amount of people who added it to story alert shocked me so thank you . I will respond to every review, either on each chapter or through a PM so if you ever have any question or criticisms, let me know! As the story progresses, Quinn's attitude may not be liked by everybody but there is a reason why she is the way she is. Also, updates will not be as quick as this; I just had this chapter written and after the response, I thought I should update it.

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><p><strong>Chapter 2:<strong>

I can list the things I know about Quinn on one hand:

She has three tattoos

She smokes

She has to be in control

These are things that a girlfriend would know, but unlike a girlfriend, I don't know why she has to be in control and I don't understand what her tattoos mean. She says she smokes to keep herself sane but I don't know when she started smoking or why she needs to be kept sane. I never needed to know these things because they weren't important.

But now they are.

I need to know these things because we're supposed to be girlfriends. We've spent the last two days talking about what we need to do; or rather I've spent the last two days dictating to Quinn what she needs to do. I don't believe that she has fully grasped how important this is to me. I'm convinced that she thinks this is one big game.

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><p><em>"Quinn, stand still and smile." I angle my phone slightly to get a good picture of her but her constant pacing is making it very difficult.<em>

"_Why?" _

"_Because I'm trying to get a picture of you." I wave my phone in front of her. "Actually, I have a better idea, lie down. If you're standing up, it might look too staged."_

"_Why do you want a picture of me?"_

"_Seriously?" I raise my eyebrows at her. "We're about to pretend that we're a couple, I'm going to need a picture of you to act as the background for my phone."_

_Quinn sits down on my bed and rubs her hands on her thighs. "Maybe this whole pretending to be dating thing isn't a good idea."_

"_Quinn you agreed to do this." I have to stop myself from stamping my foot in annoyance._

"_I know but it's just going to be complicated and I'm not really getting anything out of it. A mini-break which I didn't ask for, I can take care of myself financially and if I stay here I can still get sex," she states and although I shouldn't, I frown at the last comment. "We've known each other for what, two months, and what we have has never once resembled a relationship. We're friends-with-benefits. Hell we're not even really friends, we just have sex." She buries her head in her hands and groans loudly. "I can't pretend to be in love with you."_

_I step back quickly almost as if I'd just been burnt. That last comment stung. During high school I idolised how Santana and Brittany could get anybody they wanted, they were gorgeous and guys fell over their feet for them. _

_That didn't happen to me._

_It still didn't._

"_Am I that atrocious? You can't even pretend to be in love with me for five days. I didn't realise I was so horrible to spend time with."_

_Quinn immediately stands up and moves in front of me. "No, Rachel that's not what I meant!" Her voice is hurried. "It's not you, it's me."_

"_Wow, you're actually using a break-up line on me," I say. "We're not even dating; you don't have to break-up with me." I continue sardonically._

"_I just meant that I don't do love, I don't do relationships." Quinn inhales sharply and presses her hand against her forehead. "I'm that girl you have one-night stands with; I'm the girl you have a friends with benefits relationship with; I'm not the girl you take home to meet your friends and family." She throws herself back onto my bed._

"_I'm not asking you to be that girl, it's just pretend Quinn," I clarify. "You just have to accompany me to my friend's house for the week, in front of everybody else we'll act as a couple and behind closed doors we can resort back to what we've been doing these last couple of months." I take a seat beside her on the bed and she sits up properly. "Look, it probably sounds pathetic to you but during high school I was a loser, most of Glee Club made fun of me at some point. I just want to prove to them that I'm not the same person anymore."_

"_You're not a loser Rachel." Quinn says. _

"_I know that you don't want to do this but I don't have anybody else to ask. Please Quinn, do this for me. It's just five days and then everything will go back to normal," I plead. "Please."_

_Quinn pinches the bridge of nose and takes a deep breath before nodding. She pulls me closer and places a kiss on my cheek. My breath hitches momentarily as her lips make contact with my cheek, Quinn doesn't do romantic gestures. "I thought you wanted a picture," she says, tapping the phone in my hands. "This time, take the photo."_

_She kisses my cheek once more, allowing her lips to linger there for a little longer. I try to act like a person in love and smile widely, the click of the camera causing Quinn to move away. She glances at the phone and nods in satisfaction. "We make a hot couple." All I can do is nod in agreement because truthfully I didn't hear what she said; all I can think about is why my cheek suddenly feels cold. _

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><p>Quinn leans forward and turns the volume of the stereo right down before closing her eyes and turning to her right.<p>

"Okay, one more time, what's my favourite film?"

Quinn rolls her head to face me and opens her eyes. "Do you mind if we give the interrogation a rest for a minute? I'm shattered since you kept me up last night, not in the way I would have liked either, and as a result I would love to sleep for a bit before I meet all your friends and have to act as the doting girlfriend."

I grip the steering wheel a little tighter in frustration. Despite spending the entire night trying to teach her about myself, she seemed reluctant to listen to me and insisted that it would be fine. In her words, 'she would wing it.' Maybe it's because I'm a professional actor but I thought in order to play a role, you had to learn everything you could about it to play it convincingly. Quinn on the other hand didn't seem bothered at all.

"Quinn, this is more important than sleep. If you don't know these minor details about me, how are we going to convince people we're dating?"

She closes her eyes again. "I don't understand why we have to convince people. Surely if you say you're dating somebody, they'll believe you." The corner of her mouth curls up slightly. "I mean you wouldn't lie about something like that."

"You don't know them." I glance at Quinn but her eyes are still closed. "I've only really dated two people in my life, one of which was in high school. Most of my old friends were and probably still are very involved in one another's love lives."

"That's pathetic."

"It was high school. You know what high school is like," I reply, almost as if it was the simplest explanation ever.

"I highly doubt they're going to quiz us on each other."

"Anything is possible," I state. "I know you don't care but it is essential that you know my likes and dislikes. Everybody knows my favourite film so it would seem bizarre if my so-called girlfriend didn't know."

Quinn turns her head away from me once more and for a moment I think she's fallen asleep before I hear her whisper in the silence of my car. "Funny Girl."

* * *

><p>Quinn stirs as I turn into Kurt and Blaine's driveway. "Hey sleepy head." I smile as her eyes blink quickly adjusting to the daylight. "You do realise that the car journey was only thirty minutes right? Most people can stay awake for that length of time."<p>

Quinn rubs her eyes, ridding them of sleep. "Most people didn't stay up the previous night answering trivia cards and watching power point presentations with slides consisting of why Barbra Streisand is a legendary figure."

"I'll have you know that my power point presentations are exceptionally educational and if you had paid attention then you would have learnt a great deal about me." I turn the engine off. "That aside, I've been so concerned with teaching you about myself that I didn't even realise that I don't know anything about you."

"If people ask questions, I'll answer them," she replies.

"You really are a closed book aren't you?" I joke. "Are you seriously not going to tell me anything? I'm supposed to be your girlfriend; I should know things like your favourite movie and food."

"If people ask questions, I'll answer them," she repeats. "Besides, there's not much to know about me."

I sigh heavily as I realise that she isn't going to divulge any information. At first I thought pretending to be Quinn's girlfriend and her playing mine would be simple, it would be just another role. I would learn my part and play it perfectly and it would be one of my best roles. I would play my part so well that nobody would suspect anything. It's only now that it has occurred to me. This pretence requires two people and somehow I don't think my co-star is going to take this as seriously as I am.

"Do you mind getting the bags whilst I knock?"

Quinn unbuckles her seatbelt. "Oh I see how this is going to go; your pretend girlfriend is also your skivvy." Her face is serious but her tone holds playfulness. "Anything else I can do for you _babe_." She accentuates the final word and I quirk my eyebrow at her.

"Babe?"

"Would you prefer baby?" She asks in all seriousness. "What about sweetheart? Or honey? Maybe even darling?"

"Babe is fine. What term of endearment would you prefer? Or should we just stick with babe because it's neutral and couples often call one another babe."

Quinn chuckles before opening the car door. "I'd rather you didn't call me any. I'm not a fan of them." She closes the car door over before pausing. "There you go; you've learnt something about me." She shuts the door completely before walking to the trunk, gesturing to me from the back window to open it. I pull the lever before exiting the car and walking towards the door, looking over my shoulder as Quinn unpacks the trunk.

As I knock on the wooden door, I've overcome by a sudden flood of nerves. What if this doesn't work? What if one of us messes up and it becomes obvious that we aren't a real couple? Quinn is most definitely not taking this seriously and I have to admit that I'm frightened that everybody will see through our pretence. That would be the worst case scenario. I don't think I could cope with the embarrassment which would entail. Especially considering my ex-boyfriend, my first love was going to be in attendance. I don't want him to see me as pathetic; that would be worse than turning up alone.

I hear quick footsteps before the door flies open. "Rachel!" Kurt's voice is higher than normal as he wraps his arms around me, pulling me into a hug. "I've missed you."

Even though it's only been a few weeks, I know what he means. "I've missed you too."

"This won't come as a surprise, but you are the first one here," Kurt says as he releases his hold on me. "Although if you weren't here first I'd be worried, considering you only live half an hour away and your punctuality is always impeccable."

I open my mouth to speak but a hand wrapping around my waist causes my voice to be caught in my throat. "Cars unpacked." She pecks my cheek before turning her attention to Kurt. "You must be Kurt."

Kurt's eyes widen at the surprise guest and I've known him long enough to tell how big a shock this news is for him but to his credit, he is managing to keep his face surprisingly straight. "I am. And you are?"

Quinn bumps my hip lightly. "Aren't you going to introduce us Rachel?"

I offer her an apologetic smile. "Sorry, how rude of me. Kurt this is Quinn, my girlfriend."

This time Kurt fails to keep his expression under control and I'm scared he's going to pass out from the shock, his face has paled drastically. "Pleasure to meet you." Quinn extends her hand before withdrawing it awkwardly seconds later when it becomes obvious that Kurt isn't moving. "I think you've broken him," she whispers into my ear.

"Kurt?" The sound of Blaine's voice brings mine and Quinn's focus away from Kurt who really does appear to be in a comatose state. "What's keeping you?" He emerges to the right of Kurt and grins at me immediately. "Rachel, it's lovely to see you." His gaze follows Kurt's and lands on Quinn. He holds his hand out courteously. "I'm sorry, I don't believe we've have the pleasure. I'm Blaine, Kurt's fiancé."

Quinn smiles graciously and shakes his hand. "I'm Quinn, Rachel's girlfriend."

Blaine takes a step back at the shock before grabbing his fiancé's hand, giving him a little shake. "Well Rachel's certainly kept you quiet, quite a shock I must say," he declares. "I would say it was a shock for Kurt too but I think from the look on his face, you can gather that."

Kurt finally leaves his stupor. "How can you have a girlfriend? More importantly why didn't you tell me?" I don't think he recognizes that the conversation has carried on since Quinn introduced herself to him.

"There'll be plenty of time for an interrogation Kurt, five days precisely, how about we let them get settled before you attack them with questions?"

Disappointment flashes across Kurt's face but he nods and lifts his scrutinising gaze from Quinn diverting it back to me. "Can we help you with your bags? And by we, I of course mean Blaine." He laughs and bumps hips with the other man.

"That won't be necessary, I can handle them," Quinn speaks up; she squeezes my hip before removing her hand from around my waist and walking towards the bags.

"That's probably true but I wouldn't be the chivalrous guy I am if I didn't help," Blaine adds, ducking outside and following Quinn. I can hear them engaging in light conversation but their voices are too far away for me to make out what they were saying.

"Girlfriend?" Kurt grabs my hand and tugs me quickly inside. "You, Rachel Berry, the girl who pined after Finn Hudson for years, have a girlfriend?"

"Don't sound so surprised Kurt. I did tell you that I have feelings for girls now as well. Besides, I fell for Quinn because of who she is not her gender."

"Wait until the others hear about this." Kurt laughs, holding his hand against his chest.

"What's so funny?"

Kurt pauses. "Santana is going to have a field day when she finds out that, not only are you bi-sexual but you've actually brought a girl to the wedding." I shove him gently in the shoulder and his laughter ceases permanently, his face becoming serious once more. "You know when you told me you liked girls, she was not who I pictured you'd end up with."

I trail his gaze to see Quinn crossing the threshold, arms filled with bags, Blaine a few meters behind her, also arms filled with bags. I'm not known to travel light. "Why not?"

He raises his eyebrows at me and I know what he's thinking. Finn and Rob had both been clean cut, tall, dark and handsome. They were people who made me feel safe. Quinn was the polar opposite of them both, what with her pink shaggy hair and tattoos. She represents everything I'm not "She looks a little wild and you're...well you're safe."

"I can be wild." Even though I know he is right, I stomp my foot slightly causing him to restart laughing.

* * *

><p>Blaine finishes directing Quinn and I to the bedroom we will be sharing for the next five days. They've given us one of the two bedrooms on the top floor and I silently pray that the other bedroom won't be occupied by Santana and Brittany. I mean, I'm really happy that they're still together but if their libidos are anything like they were back in high school, I don't want them to be next door to us.<p>

Quinn and I won't get any sleep.

I've only taken two items of clothing out of my suitcase when I feel her arms wrap around my waist, her lips finding my favourite spot just below my ear. Her fingertips glide across the hem of my shirt before dipping underneath to stroke my stomach. My eyes involuntarily close at her touch. "Quinn we can't." She ignores me and brushes away loose hair from my shoulder, placing feather-like kiss from my neck towards my collarbone.

No matter how slight her actions, she always sets my senses alight. She certainly knew all the places which would drive me crazy, which made this ever harder. "Quinn!"

"What's wrong?"

"We can't do this here."

Quinn brings her mouth to my ear. "We're girlfriends Rachel, this is what they do." She tugs my earlobe between her teeth gently before releasing it. "It's not like we don't do this all the time anyway."

I push away from her embrace and spin around so I'm facing her. "That's different."

Quinn rolls her eyes and crosses her arms. "Why? The way I see it, we have sex, it's what we do. Why change that? I know you said you're not really experienced when it comes to relationships but people still have sex when they're in them."

Her hands find my waist once more. "I'm not saying we can't have sex, just not now. Everybody will be arriving shortly and I would prefer it if the first time they saw me in years, I wasn't sporting sex hair."

Quinn moans angrily before stepping away. "Whatever."

"Are you mad?"

"Why would I be mad?" She questions. "You asked me to pretend to be your girlfriend, you said that things would still be the same, excuse me if I thought that meant sex. I didn't agree to this out of the goodness of my heart you know."

She storms into our en-suite bathroom and closes the door over. I stay where I am and listen as she turns the taps on, drowning her out so I can't hear her. Confusion fills my face; I hadn't rejected her completely, merely suggested that this wasn't the most appropriate time for a sexual encounter.

She has no reason to be angry.

She may have had no reason but the sound of the door suddenly slamming shut tells me that she is indeed angry. I scoff loudly at her petulant behaviour before returning to unpack my suitcase.

* * *

><p>Quinn and I head downstairs in silence, each time I try to grab her hand so we can at least put on the pretence that we're a happy couple, she simply walks further ahead of me. "There you two are, we were just about to come get you. Everybody else is practically here; they're out in the garden." Blaine opens the fridge. "Can I get you a drink?"<p>

"Vodka and coke please," Quinn answers quickly before remembering that she is supposed to be playing the doting girlfriend. "And an orange juice."

"Go outside, I'll bring you them."

I grab Quinn's hand whilst she was looking at Blaine. "We're supposed to be a couple." Quinn breathes heavily but doesn't pull away.

"I can't believe I agreed to this," she says angrily. "This is stupid. All I want from you is sex and now you're complicating things."

"It's five days Quinn and then we can go back to being whatever we used to be."

Quinn scoffs. "Like it's that simple?"

"What does that mean?"

"Forget it."

"No Quinn, tell me."

Quinn tugs her bottom lip between her teeth. "We're not just going to go back to the way things were Rachel. You can pretend all you want but after five days, things will change. The dynamics of this thing between us will change." She drags me towards the patio door before glancing briefly at me. Her next few words come out laced in bitterness. "Happy face Rachel, we're supposed to be a new couple, still in that honeymoon phase." I plaster a fake smile on my face. "That's better."

She opens the door and instantly everybody's eyes are on us. I can see pretty much everybody drop their gaze to our joined hands before they look away. Mercedes and Tina are the first to approach us.

"Well if it isn't Broadway star Rachel Berry." Mercedes stands awkwardly in front of me for a second before I release Quinn's hand and hug her. "Nice to know you still don't ask before you hug people."

I chuckle slightly. "It's good to see you Mercedes, you too Tina." Tina returns the pleasantry. "How are you? How's life?"

Tina opens her mouth to answer but Mercedes cut her off. "There'll be plenty of time for us to give you the scoop but first things first, Rachel; don't you think there's something you should tell us?"

Subtlety was never one of Mercedes' strong points. "This is Quinn," I state calmly and allow the girls to shake each other's hands and get acquainted. "She and I are together."

"Together?"

"Yes, as in the couple sense. She is my girlfriend."

"Didn't know you had it in you my little Jew princess." Noah's voice surprises me but not nearly as much as him picking me up and spinning me around in a hug. Despite never being firm friends in high school, he always held a certain level of respect for me because of our shared religion. In turn I respected him because no matter what, he wasn't afraid to talk to me. He even stood up for me several times. It wasn't much but his small acts of kindness every now and again made me feel less alone.

"Never thought I'd see the day Rachel got with somebody as hot as you babe." He winks at Quinn and rakes his eyes over her body. Quinn merely avoids his gaze and curls her mouth up in disgust.

"Noah, I would appreciate it if you didn't ogle my girlfriend."

Noah bows sarcastically. "Of course my lady, anything you say." He laughs heartily before running towards the swimming pool, diving in once he reached the edge. Mercedes and Tina leave us only seconds later although the glint in Mercedes eyes told me that our conversation about Quinn wasn't over.

"Who was that?" Quinn asks quietly and I hadn't realised how close she was to me.

"Noah Puckerman, although he will insist you call him Puck, his reasoning being 'it rhymes with something he is very good at doing.'"

Quinn sniggers. "He has a big ego then."

"It's all a front, deep down he is a real softie," I reply.

"Berry."

"Rachel!" Brittany throws herself into my arms and the shock alone causes my arms to fail and as a result I'm left to just stand there pathetically as she hugs me. "It's good to see you." Luckily Brittany doesn't notice, or if she does she doesn't care.

"Brittany." I smile happily at her. If it wasn't for Glee Club, we would have never talked. Our social circles never met, she was popular and I wasn't. That being said, it was impossible not to like Brittany. Her bubbly, good-hearted nature shone through whenever you met her and it always made you feel at ease. Granted, she wasn't the brightest crayon in the box but she didn't care. All through high school, she never seemed to care what people thought of her and I loved her for that. Whenever somebody threw an insult my way, I let it affect me.

I let it bother me.

What I wouldn't give to be able to ignore what people thought of me. Not that she had to worry about what people thought of her, Santana was always on hand to protect her if anybody insulted her.

I had always admired how protective Santana was of her best friend and later girlfriend.

She may have been, for lack of a better word, a bitch to most people but whenever she was around Brittany, it was almost as if she had a personality change. Her bitchiness dissipated, instead of shouting at Brittany when she got things wrong, like she would to anybody else, she patiently corrected her.

"Well short stack, I never thought that you would come over to our side," Santana says proudly, giving Quinn the once over. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Quinn narrow her eyes at Santana. "Finnocence put you off men permanently? Although I can't say I'm surprised, my brief encounter, and I do mean brief, was enough for me. He should come with a warning sign."

"Finn did no such thing Santana," I retort. "And I'll have you know that I'm not off men, as you put it, I merely met Quinn and fell in love with her."

"Since when were you so fluid?"

"I simply believe that you fall in love with the person, not the gender."

Santana smiles slyly. "If I'd have known back in high school, I totally would have got on you. I mean underneath those hideous argyle sweaters and whatever other clothes you raided from the pre-school, you were hiding a hot body."

I didn't need to look in a mirror to know that my cheeks had flushed pink.

"But you love me now right San?" Brittany chimes in, even when she's questioning Santana's love, she still holds a smile.

Santana's face softens instantly. "Of course Britt Britt, I'm just saying that we could have invited Berry over here to join us if we'd known she was interested in the superior sex."

"That would have been so hot." Brittany's smile widens.

"Do you mind not talking about my girlfriend likes she's a piece of meat." Quinn pipes up for the first time since the couple had approached us. I notice that she's not directing that question to Brittany, only Santana. I can't help but wonder whether her eyes have even left Santana since the beginning of the conversation.

"This is so cool, Rach. Now you're a bi-corn like me." Brittany ignores Quinn's statement and despite the tense atmosphere, she does something that only Brittany can do and get away with. She steps to my right and throws her arms around Quinn. "Hi."

Quinn freezes as soon as Brittany touches her, much like I did. I'm worried that she's going to push Brittany off her, and that would no doubt infuriate Santana but instead her arms slowly wrap around the taller blonde and she returns the hug. "Nice to meet you."

Santana's eyes narrow in disdain as she places her hands on Brittany's waist, pulling her softly away from Quinn's embrace. "I didn't catch your name."

Quinn frowns. "I didn't give it to you."

I push Quinn's shoulder lightly. "Her name is Quinn."

"What's with the pink hair?" Santana asks. "I'm sure the memo probably hasn't reached whatever rock you crawled out from but this isn't the 80s anymore; the whole punk look is out."

"Santana be nice," I say calmly.

Santana bites down on her bottom lip and stares at Quinn. Quinn mirrors her actions and an uncomfortable atmosphere descends over the four of us. I chance a look at Brittany but her attention has drifted towards the swimming pool where Noah was busy pushing Tina in.

"Well as nice as it was catching up with you both, Quinn and I should probably go say hello to the others." I clutch Quinn's hand in mine, but her eyes remain focused on Santana's. "Quinn," I give her hand a small tug to get her attention, "I really should introduce you to everybody else, it would be rude if I didn't, and I am not a rude person."

Santana's gaze is broken when Brittany squeals in excitement, unlike Quinn, Santana pays attention to her girlfriend. "Come on San, let's go to the pool. I want to be a mermaid."

Santana gives Brittany a smile which is designated for her eyes only. "Okay babe." Brittany squeals again before running towards the pool. "Berry. Puta."

Quinn scowls before surging forward at Santana. I thank the amount of slushies I received during high school for the quick reflexes I possess today. My hand is around Quinn's waist before she can pass me and grab Santana. "Don't."

"She's a friend, seriously?" Quinn snarls. "She's a bitch! She deserves a smack."

"Sometimes maybe but you are certainly not going to be the one who delivers it."

Quinn emits an angry growl before shoving my arm away from her.

"Quinn, Rachel, I have your drinks." Blaine heads towards us, oblivious to the friction which has already developed between Quinn and the Latina. "I'm guessing the orange juice is yours Rachel, unless you've suddenly developed a palate for liquor." He receives his answer as Quinn takes the vodka and coke from his tray and knocks it back in one go.

"Maybe you should slow down."

Quinn snarls at me before her demeanour changes back to polite Quinn. "May I use your bathroom please Blaine?"

"Of course, down the corridor and first door on your right."

Quinn thanks him and disappears into the house.

"Nice going Berry, should have known that you'd find a crazy chick."

I turn to scold Santana for her attitude but Brittany jerks her into the pool before I get a chance.

"Is Quinn all right?"

"Yes, of course. She's just nervous about meeting everybody; she's merely gone to compose herself." Blaine accepts my answer and makes his way around the garden, serving everybody their drinks. I wave briefly at Artie, before waving at Sam and Mike who are currently heavily involved in a conversation with their wives. I peek through the patio door expecting to see Quinn returning but the corridor was vacant.

I may have told Blaine that Quinn was alright but I don't know whether she is. I mean I don't know anything about her. We're playing a grown-up game of 'house' and I may as well have hired a stranger to be my girlfriend because at the end of the day, that's all Quinn is. I've spent the last two months sleeping with her, yet I don't know her at all.

Pretending to be her girlfriend may be more difficult than I anticipated.

After all, I don't even know her last name.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: These characters belong to the creators of Glee, I own nothing. If I did, Faberry would most definitely be a couple.

Authors Note: Once again I must say thank you to everybody who reviewed. I love reading the comments because they make me smile, I'm just glad that people are enjoying this story. This chapter is going to be quite fluffy in parts because I do love cute Rachel and Quinn. One thing I must say is that Quinn's personality is going to drastically change, how she acts in front of everybody else and just Rachel are going to be different but it will all make sense :P It's necessary character development for where I want this story to go.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3:<strong>

When Quinn didn't reappear after five minutes, I became curious. When ten minutes had passed, I became worried. Unsurprisingly Quinn wasn't in the bathroom when I went to check, nor was she in our bedroom. Granted I don't know much about her but luckily I know just enough to find her. Sure enough, there she is, standing in the driveway, cigarette in hand. She looks over her shoulder as my footsteps grew nearer.

"I'll be back in a minute."

I didn't linger.

She didn't want me to.

It's amazing how despite this being the only time the entire Glee Club has been together for years, everybody is still involved in their own cliques, sitting in separate parts of the garden. I sit down on the edge of the swimming pool, playfully getting by splashed by Noah who was still swimming happily. I dangle my feet into the warm water when Blaine sits beside me.

"Quinn's been gone a long time. Is everything okay?"

"She's just smoking out front," I reply. "She knows how much I hate it so she tries not to do it around me. I'm grateful for it really. She'll be back in a minute."

"Well I thought I'd warn you that Kurt is planning a full interrogation of how you two met over dinner." He tells me. "And I may have heard Santana saying that she had a few questions of her own."

"I fully expected that, I'll warn Quinn. She won't know what hits her when the questions start flying." Blaine laughs. "I have a feeling Santana doesn't like Quinn."

Blaine stands up when Kurt calls him. "Does Santana ever like anybody on first appearance?"

"Brittany."

"She is of course the only exception to an otherwise strict rule."

Quinn walks towards me just as Blaine is leaving, I can see them greet each other briefly. She pecks me on the lips before ridding herself of her shoes and sitting down beside me, her feet copying mine and dangling in the swimming pool. Her arm instantly comes to rest on my waist but she doesn't say anything to me. It's been several minutes since her reappearance and she still hasn't spoken to me. I can sense eyes on my but I don't turn around to see who it is watching me, I'm pretty sure it's Santana and I'm pretty sure she's looking at Quinn more than me. Instead, I shuffle even closer to Quinn and rest my head on her shoulder.

One aspect of our relationship we never discussed was touching. We certainly couldn't be shy about anything; after all, we'd slept together enough but we never really engaged in soft romantic gestures. We didn't kiss unless it was foreplay, we never cuddled and we never held hands. As I place my head on her shoulder, I half expect her to move away from me but she does something that surprises me. The arm around my waist tightens and she places a soft kiss on the side of my head.

The pungent scent of cigarette smoke hits my nostrils causing my face to crease up in disgust. The thing I hate the most about smoking is how the smell lingers on people's clothing and skin.

"What's your last name?"

"Fabray."

Her answer is instant and I lift my head to look at her. "I never knew that."

I feel Quinn's shoulder move upwards as she shrugs. "You never asked."

"Do you not want to know mine?" I ask and I can't help but feel slightly offended that she hadn't immediately asked the same question.

Quinn kicks some of the water with her feet like she doesn't have a care in the world and maybe she doesn't. "I know yours. You're Rachel Berry, the up and coming famous Broadway actress." I'm pretty sure I'm blushing. "Besides, Mercedes said your full name earlier. Plus that Santana girl called you Berry."

"Oh of course, I wasn't sure whether you'd be listening."

"Why wouldn't I?"

I didn't answer her question because honestly I don't know how to. The way Quinn acted earlier made me think that she didn't really care what happened so I hadn't expected her to listen to what my friends said.

"How old are you?"

Quinn laughs. "You really don't know anything about me do you?"

I frown and break away from her embrace. "You won't tell me anything. Besides, you didn't know anything about me until yesterday when I taught you. We agreed things would be simpler if we didn't get into personal details. It was easier to detach feelings and emotion from sex if we didn't know one another."

Quinn nods in defeat and gestures for me to come back. "I'm 28," she says when I'm resting against her shoulder once more.

"I'm dating an older woman, get me," I say plainly.

"This isn't the part where you tell me you're about 22 is it, thus making me feel ancient and depressed that I'm turning 30 year after next, is it?"

"Don't worry; I'm not 22, mores the pity," I reply. "I'm 25."

"In that case I resent the older woman comment. Three years difference isn't that bad."

Quinn's sporadic personality constantly surprises me. In the two months we've known each other I've learnt that one minute she can be reasonably sweet and the next her mood darkens and she's short with me, giving me mono-syllabic answers. Only several hours ago I had asked Quinn to tell me about herself and my request was shot down yet now she is openly answering my questions.

"Why are you telling me these things?" I ask. "I mean don't get me wrong, I'm glad because it's important to know them but when I asked earlier, you ignored me."

"Sorry about that." Quinn sighs heavily. "I guess I was still getting used to the whole idea of me being your pretend girlfriend. I've only really just got my head around it and I know how important this is for you so the least I can do is answer your questions when you ask."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." Quinn smiles warmly. "Is there anything else?"

"Were you born in New York?"

Quinn shakes her head. "Florida."

"The Sunshine State. I'm jealous," I say. "I've always wanted to go to Disneyworld; you must have gone all the time. I mean if it was on my doorstep, I would."

"I've never been either," she admits quietly. "I lived in Tallahassee, not Orlando."

"Even still, you're in the same state as Disneyworld, why wouldn't you go?" I ask.

"My family weren't exactly theme park goers." I can't be sure but I'm pretty sure her face drops slightly. My gut is telling me that her family might be a sore topic so I decide to do what I'm great at.

Talking.

"As soon as I get the opportunity I'm going, who knows, maybe we can even go together one day since neither of us has been. I don't know about you but I must admit, I'm quite eager to see the new Harry Potter World so in some aspects I'm glad that I haven't been yet because I have an extra thing to enjoy now. Of course when I was a child, I was devastated when we never went but maybe it's worked out for the best."

"You know I've just noticed something, something which I guess I never really took the time to notice before.

"Noticed what?"

"You're really cute."

This time I know I'm blushing.

* * *

><p>When I was growing up, me and my parents ate dinner around the table every night, it quickly became a Berry family tradition. When I moved to New York and lived alone, that tradition was just one of many which stayed in Ohio. Kurt and Blaine had joined together two picnic tables for everybody to sit around and for the first time in years, I'm enjoying something I haven't been able to for ages, eating dinner together with a family. We may have all had our problems in high school but at the end of the day, this Glee Club became a family. We supported one another and in times of need we were there for each other. After graduation, the family was broken up and now we're back together.<p>

"Your tofu burger." Blaine hands me the plate and the scent fills my nostrils instantaneously. In all the commotion with Quinn and seeing everybody, I hadn't realised how hungry I am.

"You're a vegan?" Quinn asks quietly so nobody else can hear. I nod my head yes and take a bite of my burger, murmuring to myself how good it was. "This might be a deal breaker Rach." I look towards my pretend girlfriend and see Blaine place a plate in front of her containing a hamburger with about six rashes of bacon as a side. "Because if there's one thing I love more than anything, it's bacon."

I can't help but smile as Quinn devours the bacon, a permanent smile on her face. She rubs her stomach when she is finished in satisfaction. "Had enough?"

"Are you kidding? I could eat bacon all day long," she replies, taking a sip of her drink. Thankfully after downing her first one, she has listened to me and slowed down. "Are you seriously telling me that you'd rather eat that," she points at my food in disgust, "then bacon?"

"As hard as it probably is for you to comprehend, yes I would."

"I can't believe I'm dating you," Quinn remarks and I don't miss Kurt watching our conversation with glee-filled eyes.

Ever since our conversation by the swimming pool, Quinn had been playing her role as my pretend girlfriend perfectly. Nobody was around to hear her call me cute, so part of me can't help but question whether she was being sincere and it wasn't just being said to convince others. But then again, Quinn doesn't do feelings. Since then she has barely left my side and if she it was only to get me a drink which she insisted on doing. She even pulled my chair out for me before we sat down for dinner. Finn certainly hadn't been that chivalrous and although Rob had been a gentleman, something about Quinn being chivalrous made me swoon like a school girl with a crush.

When she pulled my chair out for me, I felt small butterflies stir in the pit of my stomach and I must say her acting has certainly improved since this morning.

As everybody finishes their meal, I swallow the last part of my burger and Quinn pulls a disgusted face as I rub my stomach the same as she had earlier. She shakes her head playfully before sending me a small smile. I look away from her as I feel butterflies again. When I look back, she is still smiling, only this time it's directed at Brittany who waves from the other end of the table to her.

"When's Finnessa coming to join the party?" Santana speaks up; she looks directly at me even though the question is directed at Kurt. I had noticed Finn's absence as soon as I entered the garden and I'm surprised it had taken this long for somebody to question his nonappearance. "Although I can't say I missed seeing his doughy man boobs around the pool."

Kurt admonishes her for her rudeness. "His plane gets in tomorrow. He had to stay an extra day to tie up the loose ends at work before flying out."

"He's going to be in for a treat," she says laughing. "His ex now dates chicks. Direct hit to his ego there."

"My sexual preferences have nothing to do with Finn." I raise my voice slightly so she can hear me from the other end of the table. "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't joke about it."

Santana glares at me before returning to a conversation with Brittany. Quinn tilts her head to the side and when I look at her, she's staring back at me, curiosity-filled eyes. "You didn't tell me your ex was going to be here."

"Why does that matter?"

My question is left to linger in the air as Kurt quietens everybody down. The silence causes me to look away from Quinn to find eleven pairs of eyes staring back at me. "I'm sure I speak for everybody here when I say that we want to know the full story of how you two got together. I mean, it certainly came as a shock to me." He takes a sip of his drink before continuing. "So tell us the story."

"Well, despite having ex-boyfriends, I had always thought something was missing and Kurt and Blaine already know but a short while ago, after a drunken mistake, I realised that I was, I guess what most people would call bi-sexual," I explain. "Although I do not like to label myself with a particular sexuality."

Santana snores loudly. "Boring. Dish the juicy details Berry and tell us how you and the freak got together."

"Santana don't insult my girlfriend and are you still not capable of calling me Rachel?" I ask. "I mean it is better than RuPaul or Man Hands but still, I do have a proper name."

"Santana can't call you Rachel because then it shows that she likes you and she doesn't want people to know that," Brittany says proudly as Santana's eyes widen in horror. "Isn't that right babe."

"Yeah yeah whatever, I may have a little soft spot for the munchkin, mainly because she didn't marry that oaf Finn Hudson," Santana says quickly.

"Santana, can you not talk about him like that," Kurt says. "He is my family after all."

Brittany opens her mouth to speak again and I can see fear cross Santana's face as she wonders what else will be revealed by the honest blonde. "Brit babe, can you get me another drink please." Santana looks at her girlfriend lovingly and Brittany nods happily before leaving the table. "Back to the matter at hand, you didn't answer my question."

"We met at a bar." Everybody turns their head to look at Quinn who takes a sip of her wine. "We met at a bar, we had sex and the rest is history."

"Quinn!"

"She asked for the juicy details."

Santana smirks. "Putting out straight away, what happened to the prude I knew back in high school?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Quinn clench her fists. "Why don't you insult her one more time?"

Santana's gaze snaps to Quinn. "Am I supposed to be sensing a threat in there?"

Quinn tenses up beside me and I'm pretty sure everybody around the table is wondering if she is going to lose her temper, myself included. Instead she takes a deep breath and does something which affects Santana more than a slap. "Do you want to see how it feels if somebody insults Brittany."

That question wipes the earlier smirk from Santana's face and her eyes narrow angrily at Quinn. "Don't even mention her name and I'm warning you puta, if you ever so much as offend her in the slightest I will ends you."

Quinn's voice is steady and threatening. "What makes you think I won't do the same if you insult Rachel again?"

Silence descends over everybody, nobody wanting to be the first to speak, unsure whether this debacle between Quinn and Santana is over or not. Brittany bounds over to the table and plonks herself down next to Santana, kissing her cheek affectionately and handing her the drink. Santana's face softens at her girlfriend's warm gesture.

"Why's nobody talking?" Brittany asks, as she takes a sip of her drink.

Santana takes her girlfriend's hand in her own. "We were just waiting for Rachel over here to tell us why after being in the celibacy club and being pretty passionate about not having sex until till she was 25, gave it up in one night to this one."

"I didn't."

Quinn must sense my panic. "What you wanted the whole story? I thought you just wanted the juicy bits, everything might be a bit boring for you." She entwines our fingers and I notice Santana smirking at Quinn's answer. "I'd had a shit day at work so needed a drink. I went to a bar and saw Rachel sitting on one of the bar stools, singing along to the juke box. She knew every song which came on and she looked so carefree. So I went up to her and bought her a drink. I didn't mean to make her sound easy earlier, she certainly played hard to get." She looks at me. "Took quite a bit of wooing before you even considered dating me didn't it? Let alone sleep with me."

From across the table Mercedes slaps Sam on the shoulder softly. "Why don't you ever woo me anymore?"

"Sorry babe." Sam kisses his wife's cheek.

Santana ignores the couple, still focusing on Quinn although her gaze isn't angry like before. "Most people would have given up."

"I'm not most people." Quinn's eyes haven't left mine. "...and not that you'll know nor will you ever find out but Rachel Berry is most definitely worth the wait."

Santana laughs in approval. "Somehow I believe that."

"Yeah so do I." Noah grins before downing his drink. "I bet you're wild in bed."

"I'm not comfortable answering that question Noah."

Noah groans in disappointment. "Come on babe, give us a clue. Finn never told me any details about you and him."

"Grow up Noah."

"How long have you been together?" Tina asks from the comfort of Mike's arms. They have always been the solid couple so it's nice to see that they're still happy after eight years. Tina showed me a picture of their baby girl earlier and seeing her adorable chubby cheeks and bright blue eyes made me somewhat broody.

"Three months," I lie. "I know it's not long but when you know, you know."

Santana gags. "Well isn't that disgustingly romantic."

"Well I think it's adorable," Kurt voices his opinion. "Rachel's happier than I've seen her in ages."

"I agree." Brittany beams. "You're so cute together, San thinks so too, she just won't admit it yet."

Santana's cheeks fill with a slight pink tint and she whispers something in Brittany's ear quietly. Brittany pouts but it is quickly replaced with a smile.

"I wouldn't say cute." Noah smirks at Quinn before winking at her. "Fucking hot together is more like it. What do you say my hot little Jew, any chance I can get in on the action?"

"Nice to see you're still as disgusting Noah."

Noah throws his head back and laughs. "Honestly babe, you wouldn't feel the same about me if I changed."

"My feelings of nausea and discontent would disappear if you changed, that's for sure."

Noah laughs again and walks towards me, placing a sloppy kiss on my forehead. "Love you too babe."

Noah takes a seat next to Artie and a conversation immediately starts up, although Artie looks slightly uncomfortable at whatever Noah is telling him.

"You have an interesting set of friends." Quinn fingers her necklace before pointing to Noah. "You two seem close. Have you and him ever..."

I hold my hand up before Quinn can finish her sentence. "If you are insinuating that Noah and I have engaged in sexual intercourse then you are horribly mistaken. He is a friend, a strange one but nothing more."

"How should I know?" Quinn runs her fingers through her hair. "I don't know how many people you've been with."

I frown. "I told you, two people."

"No, you said you've had two relationships," she replies, sipping her drink. "If the way you jumped into bed with me is anything to go by, I'm guessing you've slept with a lot more people than just those two and me."

I fidget uncomfortably but luckily Quinn doesn't notice. "What about you?"

Quinn finishes her drink and winks at me. "Too many to count babe."

I don't know what makes me feel worse, my lack of experience, Quinn's answer or the fact that when she winked at me, she momentarily treated me like Puck does.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: These characters belong to the creators of Glee, I own nothing. If I did, Faberry would most definitely be a couple.

Authors Note: I know I sound like a broken record but thank you for the reviews and story alerts Hopefully this chapter will be just as good! I wanted to get this up before I go to bed so I'll read through it again tomorrow to check for mistakes, until then all mistakes are mine!

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><p><strong>Chapter 4:<strong>

After divulging a little about mine and Quinn's relationship, everybody relented with their questions and eventually the group dispersed. Santana had been in favour of having a party since it was the first night the Glee Club had been together properly for years but she quickly changed her mind once Brittany whispered something into her ear. Since then the couple had retreated to their bedroom, which unfortunately for me is the one beside Quinn and mines. I should have known that would happen. Kurt assured me that the decision had been fair and names had been pulled out of a hat but a small part of me suspects that Kurt placed me next to them on purpose, as some twisted joke. I didn't expect to see Santana and Brittany again tonight and I just hoped that when Quinn and I finally returned to our bedroom for the night, we wouldn't be kept awake.

Mercedes and Sam had also left to their bedroom, desperate to call Sam's parents to check up on their son, Andrew and their daughter Jennifer. Kurt and Blaine were sitting outside on the patio discussing their wedding and the plans for the rest of the week. They were both having stag dos per say on Wednesday night; however Blaine would be going out with the guys whilst Kurt of course would be staying in with the girls. Artie and Puck were currently in the games room playing on the games console and every so often, the odd shout of frustration or elation can be heard.

Tina and Mike are happily cuddled together on one sofa in the living room whilst Quinn and I occupy the other. The movie the Green Mile plays out on the television whilst Tina sniffs sadly to herself at the scenes. Quinn lies behind me, propping herself up on her elbow so she can still see the television over my body whilst my head rests against the armchair of the sofa.

"Quinn?" I keep my voice low for two reasons, I don't want to distract Tina and Mike from the movie and I also don't want them to hear our conversation. Quinn hums in response; I'm not sure whether she's looking at me because my eyes haven't left the television. "You know earlier, what you said to Santana."

"I said a lot of things to Santana earlier," Quinn replies in the same volume. "You'll have to be more specific."

"When you threatened to insult Brittany?" I roll over to face her but her gaze is fixated on the screen. "You wouldn't have, would you?"

"No, of course I wouldn't. You just have to stand up to people like Santana," she responds and her eyes finally meet mine. "You shouldn't let her talk to you like that."

"Honestly, after high school, any insults she throws my way are like water off a duck's back."

Quinn's eyes darken with anger. "She's been a bitch to you since high school?"

I nod curtly. "Santana's complicated and she has her reasons for why she behaves the way she does. High school wasn't exactly easy for her, she had to deal with her sexuality and I'm not even sure if she was completely okay with it before she was forced to come out of the closet in senior year. She used and still uses her bitchiness as a way of dealing with everything. A defence mechanism if you will," I clarify.

"Just because she had a shit time at high school doesn't give her the right to insult you," Quinn says, her eyes less angry now. "I had a shit high school experience but you don't see me insulting everybody I'm around."

"What happened to you?"

This time her eyes fill with a hint of sadness. "It's not worth talking about."

I gently grab the hand which isn't resting against her head. "It helps to talk about things."

Quinn sends me a sympathetic smile. "Not going to work Rachel." I sigh at her response. Quinn really is a closed book. "I just meant that a lot of people have a hard time in high school, don't defend her actions. She could have dealt with her problems another way rather than being a bitch."

"Don't you deal with your problems the easiest way you know how to? Don't you deal with them in a way that makes you feel better?" I ask, although I'm not looking for an answer. "It may not have been right but being a bitch helped Santana cope and I won't hate her for that. Besides, she made it up to me; the insults she sends my way now are just an aspect of our odd friendship," I explain. "You may not believe it because you don't know her but she does care, even if she doesn't always show it."

"She cares about Brittany," Quinn says. "That was apparent the first time I met them both. I knew mentioning Brittany would make her stop insulting you because it's obvious that she would do anything for her girlfriend. I wasn't going to act on it; I'm not that kind of person."

I can't help but feel pleased at Quinn's answer. "Brittany's her soul mate." Mike and Tina shuffle slightly as they change position on the sofa. "It'll be their wedding next."

Quinn nods uninterestedly. "Even if you're right and she does care, I still don't like the way she talks to you."

I smirk. "Careful Quinn, you're starting to sound like you care."

"I do care."

It's amazing how the atmosphere suddenly shifts at those three little words.

"Really?" I can hear the surprise in my voice and I'm sure Quinn can too.

"Yeah." Quinn laughs. "I'd be a rubbish pretend girlfriend if I didn't care when somebody insulted you."

Quinn's eyes move back to the television and I roll back over so I can watch the remainder of the film, even though it's almost over. I've seen this film before so I know how it ends and I know how sad it is. I can hear Tina sniffling and sure enough she is crying. I can feel a strange sensation in the pit of my stomach but I can't understand where it has come from. When Quinn shuffles behind me I put it down to the sadness of the movie.

"We should have changed the channel," Quinn whispers in my ear. "Put something a bit happier on, is this depressing or what?"

I choose not to answer her.

Tina sniffs again and Mike laughs softly at how affected his wife is by the film. If I'd been watching it properly all the way through, I would be crying as well. It wasn't just the ending with this film that upset me, everything about it made me cry.

Shortly enough, the film credits started to roll and Mike and Tina bid us both goodnight as they headed upstairs leaving just Quinn and I in the living room. As soon as we're alone, Quinn asks me to move so she can stand up. I immediately feel colder as she leaves and disappointment surges through me as Quinn makes her way to the other sofa. Clearly now there is nobody around, she doesn't feel the need to keep the charade going.

I should agree with her.

But I don't.

I want the charade to continue.

Surprisingly she comes back and asks me to move once again so she can occupy her old position. I oblige and try to hide my surprise and delight that she has chosen to continue to sit with me. I half expect her to just sit down but she lies behind me once more. I mirror her actions and return to my old position. "What were you doing?"

Quinn holds her hand up in the air. "I was getting the remote." Quinn doesn't look at me and instead flicks through the numerous channels. I bring my gaze back to the television and wait for her to settle on one channel but she continues to channel hop.

The sound of footsteps causes Quinn to land on a channel and we both look over the sofa cushions at the intruders. "Don't mind us girls; we've just come to get a drink before we head up to bed." Kurt and Blaine walk in hand in hand and Kurt smiles at the pair of us, his eyes still containing a large element of delight. "Rachel, I didn't get a chance to ask before but it's not going to be awkward between you and Finn tomorrow is it? Especially now you have Quinn."

"No, of course not," I state firmly. "Finn and I are friends."

"Good." The betrothed couple walk past us towards the kitchen.

"I'm not here to make this Finn jealous am I?"

I snap my head to look at Quinn. "No, why would you think that?"

Quinn shakes her head. "You didn't tell me he was going to be here and I don't know…I just don't like being messed about so if you are just using me to make your ex jealous then just be straight with me."

"I'm not trying to make anybody jealous," I reply. "I told you why I wanted you to come with me; did you hear jealousy as a reason?"

Quinn watches my features for several seconds before conceding. "Okay."

Kurt and Blaine reappear, both holding a glass of water. "Well we're going to head up. We'll tell you the plans tomorrow morning. I'll expect to see you bright and early Rachel." Kurt jokes before waving at us.

I expect him to move but instead he stands still watching us intently. Blaine gives his hand a small tug and Kurt sighs but heads towards the staircase with his fiancé.

"What time is it Quinn?"

Quinn shuffles about before she grabs her phone. "A little after midnight."

"Do you want to go upstairs?"

Quinn laughs and nibbles my earlobe softly. "Are you trying to get me into bed?"

"Are you suggesting I have to try?" Quinn laughs out loud and it's a laughter I haven't heard before, its heart warming and genuine.

"You make me sound easy."

"Are you suggesting that you're not?" I alter my previous statement and she laughs once more.

"I think I should probably be offended at that but I can't argue with the truth now can I?" Quinn gives me a soft shove, signalling for me to get off the sofa. "What are you waiting for then?

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><p>As soon as our bedroom door closes, I breathe a sigh of relief, so far it seems like nobody suspects that my relationship with Quinn is pretend. "Well I think that was very successful! I'm confident that everybody believed we were dating." Quinn grunts in agreement before making her way towards the bathroom as I sit down on the bed. "I'm not just making things up am I? I mean you agree with me, we pulled off the perfect pretence."<p>

Quinn appears in the doorway, toothbrush in her mouth. "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain."

I cock my head to the side slightly in confusion as she retreats to the bathroom again. "Come again?"

"It's from the Wizard of Oz." Quinn shouts through the door which is slightly ajar. "You should know that, you love musicals after all."

"Of course I know where it's from. I just don't understand what that has to do with anything."

I hear the tap turn on and water being splashed around before the tap is turned off and Quinn stands in the bathroom doorway. "In the Wizard of Oz, everybody believed in this mystical wizard because they wanted something to believe in and it soon became a spectacle. When the wizard was revealed as a normal man he said 'pay no attention to the man behind the curtain' because he didn't want people to stop believing, even though the jig was up."

"Where are you going with this?"

"If Toto hadn't dragged the curtain down, everybody would have continued to believe in the spectacle of this wonderful wizard," she says. "As long as we do everything right, nobody is going to realise that what we're doing is the same as the wizard, putting on a spectacle. People believe what is put in front of them. Rachel, if it's a good enough pretence, nobody is going to look at the reality of the situation."

"That actually makes sense."

Quinn walks further into our bedroom and chortles. "You sound surprised, I'm not just a pretty face you know." She smiles. "I am a teacher after all."

Now that I didn't know.

"You're a teacher?"

Quinn nods. "Yeah, I teach English at Thomas Jefferson High School back in Brooklyn."

"You don't look like a teacher."

"Is that an insult or a compliment?"

"It's an observation."

Quinn rubs the back of her neck before taking a seat beside me. "I guess my appearance isn't exactly conventional but it works for me and I find that it helps me build a rapport with the kids...I don't look like other teachers, I'm "cool" in their eyes." She laughs at her last statement. "Well as cool as somebody my age can be."

"Well if I'd had you as a teacher when I was in school, I would most definitely have focused as much on English as I did Glee Club. Just in case you were wondering, that was a compliment."

"If you were my student, I think I would have probably broken all the rules because I wouldn't have been able to keep my hands off you." Quinn trails her fingers up and down my thigh, an act which for some reason makes me nervous.

"I hope that doesn't mean you sleep with your students," I question aghast.

Her face holds amusement. "Bit too young for me." A loose strand of hair falls in front of my face before she brushes it behind my ear. "Besides, I'm a different person when I'm in the school, I take it seriously, I wouldn't jeopardise it over something as stupid as sleeping with a student." Her face brightens when she talks about her job. "Unless of course they look like you, then my morals fly out the window."

"Quinn." I push her fingers off my thigh playfully and stand from the bed, heading towards the bathroom. "So if you're an English teacher, you must have a favourite book."

It's a statement more than a question.

"I do."

"Are you going to tell me what it is?"

"To Kill a Mockingbird."

"I've never read it," I admit as I return, Quinn is now lying down on the bed, her hands behind her head. Her eyes follow me as I move. "Why is that your favourite?"

"It's got everything you could want in a novel, controversy, a great family with a great father figure and a brilliant heroine."

"Why?"

She shrugs slowly. "Because she sees the world in black and white, she knows what is right and what is wrong and to her everything is simple. She doesn't understand why everybody else doesn't see the world like she does."

"Sounds freeing," I reply before starting to undress.

I glance at Quinn and smirk as I watch her eyes hungrily rake over my body. She's in front of me before I can even speak and her eyes have darkened considerably. "You are unbelievably hot." Her lips crash against mine, her tongue trailing my bottom lip and I eagerly part my lips granting it entry. She turns us around and pushes me backwards until the back of my knees hit the bed causing us both to fall onto it.

Quinn laughs against my lips as her hands roam over my body. I tangle my hands in her hair as her lips move towards my neck, sucking on my pulse point, hard enough to leave a mark. This isn't new for us, Quinn has marked me before but there is something about the way she doesn't stop which is strange.

It's almost as if this time she isn't just marking me because she can.

She isn't marking me to show the control she has over me.

She's marking me because she wants to.

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><p>Quinn rolls over to her side of the bed, panting heavily. "Wow."<p>

"Yeah."

"I mean, really, that was wow!"

I feign hurt. "You sound surprised?"

Quinn's head lolls to the right, looking directly at me. "I am, albeit pleasantly surprised. I mean it's usually great but that was mind blowing." She brushes a strand of hair away from her face. "I meant it to come out as a compliment."

"Thank you."

"Are you thanking me for sex or the compliment?"

"Everything I guess," I state, covering myself with the duvet as I try to reach my pyjama top and shorts.

"I never understand why you do that."

I turn to look at Quinn who is focusing on me. "Do what?" Confusion fills my features.

Quinn throws her top on before pulling on a pair of shorts. She leaves the bed, walking to collect my pyjamas before handing them to me. "Cover yourself; are you ashamed of your body or something?"

"I have a certain amount of issues with my body; I am what one would call body conscious." I thank her quietly for the top, throwing it over myself before sliding into my shorts, shielding myself from her view.

"You do realise that I have seen you naked, plenty of times." Quinn climbs back into her side of the bed. "Covering yourself up doesn't really change the fact that I have seen your body before."

I blush. "Have you looked at yourself in the mirror? You're gorgeous Quinn; I defy anybody not to feel self-conscious around you."

A hint of a blush fills Quinn's cheeks. "You have nothing to feel self-conscious about. Let me ask you the same question, have you looked at yourself in the mirror? Because if you had you wouldn't have these doubts." She cups my cheek softly. "You're beautiful."

I can feel my heartbeat quicken at the sincerity in her words. Her eyes are on mine and she gives me a smile I haven't seen before, it's not a full smile as only the left side of her mouth has curled up but I can't look away. Her thumb caresses my cheek. When I nuzzle into her touch slightly, I can see panic cross her face and the hand which was cupping my cheek falls away. She averts her gaze from mine. "I wouldn't be with you if you weren't hot."

Sometimes I really hate Quinn.

One minute she says something which makes me swoon and feel like the prettiest girl in the world. Something which makes me feels special and loved, which destroys any issues I have with myself and then she counters it by saying something like that. Her earlier adjective has been substituted for 'hot', one which doesn't have the same effect as beautiful, one which brings me crashing back to earth, making me remember that for her, this is just about sex.

I'm foolish to think anything else.

Quinn coughs. "I'm just saying, for future reference, you don't need to bunch the duvet up so you're covered because you have nothing to be embarrassed about…unless of course you feel more comfortable doing that." She rubs the back of her neck nervously. "Then by all means do it but I just want you to know that you don't have any reason to hide."

"Thank you."

"You know you thank me every time I compliment you." She isn't asking a question, she's stating a fact.

"I guess it's a natural reaction."

"Well you don't need to. I'm not complimenting you for gratitude."

I nod abruptly but don't speak.

This conversation has certainly come out of the blue; normally Quinn barely speaks to me after we've slept together. She's usually out of the door pretty quickly; I didn't even know that she noticed what I did with the duvet. Quinn lies down beside me and I mirror her actions. Normally after sex, either Quinn or I would get dressed and leave the other's apartment until the next time we required a booty call. Only this time there was nowhere for us to go. When you first start dating a person, there are several things which will be always be awkward no matter what, the first date, the first kiss, the first time you sleep together and the first time you say I love you. You may not think these situations are awkward but they are because in those first few months, you are trying to impress each other.

If you want the relationship to have a future, you don't want to mess up and that added pressure creates a certain air of awkwardness.

That was what I loved about mine and Quinn's relationship; we never had those awkward moments because we weren't trying to impress each other. We both knew what we wanted and that was that. But now, we've finally reached an awkward moment in our relationship.

We're both trapped in this bed with nowhere to go.

I cough. I tell Quinn I have a tickle in my throat but honestly I'm just trying to fill the silence. I turn the bedside lamp off and Quinn follows suit and soon the room is plunged into darkness. Despite being within touching distance, the gap between us seems unreachable. I know that Quinn is next to me but it feels like she is miles away.

The bed feels cold.

Whenever I shared a bed with Finn or Rob, we spooned. Their arms always wrapped around me protectively when I slept and I felt safe. Ever since then, if I've shared a bed with somebody, I like to be in their arms. I sleep better in somebody's arms. But now I don't know what to do. Should I do what I prefer and cuddle with her or just ignore everything and move away from her. Quinn indirectly gives me my answer when her voice fills the uncomfortable silence. "Night."

She doesn't move after speaking so I presume we're sleeping apart. "Good night Quinn." I expect to hear shuffling about as she makes herself comfortable but silence fills the room once more.

It's odd how silence can be unbelievably deafening.

Rolling over to my right, I glance at the clock on the bedside table and see that it's nearly 2am. I fluff the pillow up slightly and close my eyes, willing sleep to take over. Only four more days and everything would be back to normal. Quinn and mine's relationship would go back to being what it used to be and we could pretend this week never happened. Four days seemed an eternity away and if every day was like today, I'm not sure that I can handle it; sometimes Quinn's actions make me believe that if our relationship was real, she would be an amazing, attentive girlfriend and then other times, her actions make me feel cheap and upset.

"Your feet are cold."

My eyes open at the comment and instinctively I tuck my knees up to my chest. I hadn't even realised my feet had been touching her.

"Sorry."

"It's okay, just weird that's all."

My eyebrows furrow at her comment but I decide not to question it and instead close my eyes once again, praying that sleep would come soon.

I squeeze my eyes tighter as Quinn shuffles incessantly. I try to tell myself that it's okay, that she'll get comfy in a minute and then stop.

But she doesn't stop.

If anything, her shuffling gets worse and soon she's tossing and turning. It's ironic how I thought Santana and Brittany would keep me awake yet Quinn is doing a good enough job on her own. My eyes open slowly and the red digits of the alarm clock tell me that it is 2:36. I hadn't even realised that I had managed to fall asleep. I roll over and stare at Quinn, her legs thrashing considerably. For a second I think she might be having a nightmare but when I call her name, her attention falls to me straight away and I realise that she is awake.

"Can you please stop tossing and turning, I'm finding it incredibly hard to sleep with all this shuffling."

"Sorry, I'm just uncomfortable."

"Well I'm sure if you just stick with one position, sleep will come." I yawn after finishing my sentence.

"It's not that. It's just…I've never slept in the same bed as someone before." Quinn's voice drops considerably towards the end of her sentence and I struggle to hear what she says next. "I feel slightly trapped because every time I move, part of you seems to be in the way and I don't know where to go. And I didn't want to wake you up but clearly I failed there."

"You've never slept in the same bed as someone before?" I ask just as quiet as she had spoken. Even in the darkness I can see her shake her head and it looks like she is embarrassed at the admission. "I didn't realise I was taking up so much of the bed." I lie on my back, on my side of the bed trying to give her more room. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault; I just like my own space," Quinn replies even quieter than earlier and I realise that whilst I was annoyed that she had woken me up, she hadn't even fallen asleep yet. I can't help but feel guilty.

"Would you prefer it if I slept on the sofa?" I ask, already throwing the duvet aside before her hand stops me.

"No it's okay, it's my issue. I'll sleep on the sofa." Quinn doesn't wait for an answer before climbing out of the bed, grabbing the top bed sheet and lying down on the sofa in the corner of the room. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to wake you up. I know how important sleep is to you."

"Don't worry about it." I watch Quinn fleetingly before she turns away from me and faces the cushions. It only takes a few moments before her breathing levels out and I can tell she's fallen asleep.

Earlier she told me I thanked her a lot but that's just the way I am, if somebody compliments me or does something nice for me, I have to say thank you. I mean it's only polite after all. But for every thank you I have given her, she has given me just as many apologies. We've only been here a day yet she has already apologised to me several times.

The strange thing is, with each apology she gives me, the more sincere they seem.

This time the suffocating silence is interrupted by Quinn's soft breathing and the sound is strangely comforting. I stretch out freely in the bed before returning to my original position, eager for sleep to take over but as I close my eyes, sleep doesn't come.

Oddly I don't feel tired anymore.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: These characters belong to the creators of Glee, I own nothing. If I did, Faberry would most definitely be a couple.

Authors Note: I have to say once again how much I appreciate all the reviews and story alerts. To answer Desertio, yes I have considered Beth for this story. As for why the sex was different, that will be explained in a later chapter when I do Quinn's point of view which will be coming up in a couple of chapters. I think most days will be split into two (maybe three) chapters so as a result of that, this chapter is a little bit of a filler but I hope you enjoy it none the less, all mistakes are mine!

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><p><strong>Chapter 5:<strong>

A glimmer of sunlight peeks through the miniscule gap in the curtains, landing directly on my face, waking me from my slumber. I can hear footsteps in the hallway and the faint sound of Brittany's laughter followed by an unusual shush from Santana before everything goes quiet once more. My eyes open briefly to see the time before closing again at the brightness of the room.

9.23am.

Normally I would have awakened at 6.30am and performed my normal morning routine but having only fallen asleep around 5am, I find myself a lot more tired than usual. Aside from that, I always find it strange waking up in a bed which is not my own; not seeing my bedroom wallpaper and my own items surrounding me can sometimes cause momentary confusion. I turn over and open my eyes, away from the streaming sunlight, expecting to see Quinn still fast asleep on the sofa but she isn't there.

If it wasn't for the neatly folded bed sheet which lay on top of one of the cushions, nobody would guess that she had slept there last night rather than beside me.

I hope her sleeping arrangements are only temporary and that she will sleep next to me tonight, I don't want her sleeping on the sofa again.

The sound of the toilet flushing brings my focus to the bathroom and it's amazing how such a rudimentary sound can calm my nerves. This is the first time I've woken up and Quinn is still here. I knew that she would still be in the vicinity, but for some reason I feel happier that she is still in our room.

That she hasn't gone downstairs without me.

The bathroom door opens and Quinn emerges wearing running shorts and a sports bra. Her facial features appear to brighten as her eyes fall on me. "Good morning."

I rub my eyes to rid them of sleep. "Good morning, have you been up long?"

Quinn steals a look at the clock beside me and shakes her head. "Not really, probably about half an hour."

A yawn escapes me. "You should have woken me."

"You looked too peaceful, seemed like a crime to disturb you." Quinn rummages through her clothes which remain in her suitcase and pulls out a running top, throwing it on.

"Did you sleep okay on the sofa; I can't imagine it was very comfortable. I'd hate for you to have an unpleasant night's sleep when there is a perfectly good bed right here."

"Relax Rachel, the sofa was fine," Quinn replies.

It strikes me that even though I had the more comfortable sleeping arrangements, I appear to have had the worst night's sleep and I can't help but think that had Quinn slept beside me, that wouldn't have been the case.

She tilts her head to the side and looks at me. "Did you know you snore?"

"I do not," I state as my mouth opens in shock.

Quinn looks over her shoulder at me and smirks. "How do you know? You're asleep."

"Then why ask if I knew?"

Quinn laughs quietly. "Touché, but you do snore." I'm mortified at her accusation. "It's cute though, not the annoyingly loud kind that keeps you awake."

"If it didn't keep you awake then how do you know I snore?" I ask, still not completely believing that she is telling the truth.

"You do realise that I woke up before you, I heard you then," she says as she looks over her shoulder again, her tongue darting out at me momentarily. "There's no getting out of this Rach, you snore, there's no two ways about it."

She laughs at my horrified expression before taking a seat at the foot of our bed to tie her trainers, exposing the two Chinese symbols on her lower back. I've been curious about what they mean ever since the first time I saw them but have yet to ask her because we agreed not to get too personal. Out of her three tattoos, the star on the nape of her neck and the pink carnation on her wrist, I like the Chinese symbols the best.

Perhaps because they're mysterious, I don't know what they mean, I don't what they symbolise for her.

I can't help but love the fact that she has a star tattoo, sadly it isn't gold but still I find it slightly ironic that she has a star for a tattoo. If I was brave enough to get one, I would get several stars on my wrist; I've just yet to find the courage. However, I strongly doubt that her reasoning behind the star tattoo will be the same as mine would be.

I doubt she sees stars as metaphors for herself like I do.

If she does, then we are a match made in heaven.

I move further down the bed towards her and trail the tattoo on her lower back. She stills the moment my fingers touch her. "What do they mean? Is it love or something like that?"

Quinn's breathing quickens. "Something like that."

"They suit you."

"Why's that?"

"Because when people see these symbols, most people won't know what they mean. They're mysterious." I trail a little higher, feeling goose-bumps form on her skin underneath my touch. "And so are you. You're both enigmas."

Quinn straightens herself up so her top falls back down, covering her revealed skin. "It's just a tattoo Rachel; you don't need to read too much into it."

"I have a tendency to read too much into everything, call it one of my many quirks if you want. Do you know what they mean or did you just get it because you liked the way it looked?"

Quinn looks over her shoulder at me. "I liked the way it looked." I don't know why but her answer disappoints me. For some reason I expected there to be a meaning behind all of her tattoos. I expected Quinn to be the kind of person who would think methodically about a tattoo before getting one. "But I also know what it means," she adds.

I feel oddly relieved that my initial characterisation of Quinn was correct. I pride myself on having a good judgement of character. I climb out of bed and head towards the bathroom; I can feel her following me with her eyes. "I didn't know you ran." I pour some toothpaste onto my toothbrush and start brushing my teeth.

"You wouldn't. I run in the mornings and this is the first time we've seen each other in the morning."

"How often do you run?"

"I try to run at least three times a week," Quinn shouts her answer through from the bedroom. "Looking this good doesn't come easy. If I want to keep these abs, I've got to put the effort in."

Up until now I had always thought that Quinn was just incredibly lucky with her metabolism. I thought that she was that girl everybody else hated because they can eat whatever they want, yet their weight never changes, no matter what, they never seem to put on weight. I've always been envious of her washboard stomach. Although I have to admit that now I know she is like me and has to work to stay thin, that jealousy is dissipating rapidly.

Staring at my reflection in the mirror, I see Quinn appear in the bathroom doorway. She ducks her head and looks at the floor. "I don't know whether you eat breakfast or if you're one of those people who skip it…"

I spit the toothpaste out into the sink. "Oh no, I most definitely eat it. After all, breakfast is the most important meal of the day."

She raises her head. "Good, well after I come back from the run do you want to go down for breakfast together? I mean you don't have to wait, I understand you'll probably be hungry."

I turn around to face her and butterflies appear in my stomach at her nervous disposition. People in relationships have breakfast together, everybody will expect Quinn and I to eat together but because this relationship is pretend, I can't help but feel like she's asking me on a date.

I also can't help but feel elated at the idea of going on a date with her.

"That sounds lovely Quinn, of course I'll wait."

Quinn beams at me. "Great, well I usually run for about an hour, give or take. Is that okay?"

I nod my head before turning back to the sink to swill some mouthwash around my mouth as Quinn retreats to our room. I gargle for a few seconds and spit, rinsing the sink with water before leaving the room only to be greeted with the sight of Quinn performing stretches and my gaze lingers on her bum.

Quinn stands up straight and stretches her arms. "You know, you could always come with me."

I laugh to myself. "I do not run."

"You must do something to keep fit." She stares at me for a moment. "You don't get a body like yours without working for it. I should know."

Her scrutinising gaze makes me blush. "I exercise on my elliptical machine at home."

"But you don't have that here." She points out, jutting out her bottom lip in protest. "Come for a run with me." She pokes me in the side playfully. "You never know, you might even have fun. If nothing else, I like to think I'm good company."

"I'm well aware that you're good company Quinn," I reply. "But I'm still going to have to pass. Running in public has never been an idea which sits well with me. People look at you."

Quinn raises her eyebrows at me. "You're on Broadway, people look at you all the time."

"Yes when I'm prepared and in character, not when I'm all sweaty and disgusting from running."

"You know, I have a feeling that you'd still look sexy even when running."

"Although I'm sure that's true..." I reply in a playful manner. "Compliments will not work, I'm still not coming."

Quinn holds her hands up in surrender. "Fine but one day I will get you to come for a run with me."

"Only three more mornings with me Quinn and I can't see my resolve breaking anytime soon."

"Who said I would only try these next three days?"

I'm starting to believe that what Quinn said to me yesterday was true. After this week ends, our relationship will change, we won't be able to go back to how things were but maybe that's for the best. Maybe after this week ends I won't just be a booty call to Quinn; I might possibly be her friend. It surprises me however, that I'm not sure whether I want to be that or whether I want more.

I've never seen Quinn as a potential girlfriend, in fact I've never her seen her as anything other than somebody to have sex with but the way she acts as my pretend girlfriend makes me think that if she acted like that for real, she would make an unbelievably amazing and attentive girlfriend.

Somebody that I could see myself with.

Somebody that I could see myself falling in love with.

"Rach?" Quinn waves her hand in front of me. "Where did you just go?"

"Nowhere of importance." I open the chest of drawers, withdrawing some clothes. Unlike Quinn, I had unpacked as soon as we arrived. I'm tempted to unpack her clothes but I have to remind myself that I'm not here to clean up after her. "Are you going to unpack this week or just leave your clothes here?"

"I was just going to leave them there, I mean we're only here for four more days, I don't see the point." Quinn covers her mouth as she yawns. "Why? Does it bother you?"

"I guess I'm just a bit of a neat freak."

I have to strain my ears to hear what she says next as she practically mumbles the words under her breath but I can just make it out. "Well they do say opposites attract."

I glance at the alarm clock to see it's been ten minutes since I've woken up. I turn back around to face Quinn. "Anyway you're wasting time, the sooner you go, the sooner you're back and we can eat. Have a good time."

"I will." Without hesitation, Quinn gives me a chaste kiss and I think the action shocks us both. "See you in about an hour," she says quickly before inserting her headphones into her ears and leaving our bedroom.

* * *

><p>Everybody else, bar Blaine, Noah and Brittany, is already awake and dressed, eating breakfast in the kitchen when I enter. Quinn had come back about ten minutes ago after only being out for half an hour, I questioned why her run had been a lot shorter than she had anticipated and she had simply told me that she wanted breakfast. I can't help but find that unusual, I mean if she runs three times a week before breakfast, she must be used to waiting before eating therefore I find myself hoping that it is the idea of eating breakfast with me which made her cut her run short.<p>

"Do you realise the time?" I turn my head at Kurt's voice. "It's 10.15am. I was expecting you to be the first one up."

"Sorry to disappoint Kurt," I reply in good humour. "Quinn went out for a run and I said I'd wait for her to come back so we could eat breakfast together."

Santana gags whilst Kurt awws silently. "Where is she?"

"She's just nipped into the shower; she said she wouldn't be long and that I should come down." I examine the food that Kurt has laid out for everybody. "Do you have any bacon?"

"Are you not a vegan anymore?" Mike asks from the breakfast bar as he shovels a piece of toast into his mouth.

"No I am. It's for Quinn. She loves bacon so I thought I'd make her a bacon sandwich," I answer. "Although I would never put it in my mouth, I'm not opposed to touching it."

"You're so domesticated. I never thought I'd see the day." Kurt claps his hands in an excited fashion. "There's some in the fridge. Nobody wanted any so I put it away."

I thank him and take three slices of bacon from the fridge, placing them in a frying pan.

"That still doesn't explain why you weren't up at the crack of dawn as per usual," Kurt states.

"I didn't have the best night's sleep last night; I guess my body wasn't ready to be up at the crack of dawn," I explain, flipping the bacon over. "It was probably just a one-off, I'm sure I will be back to my normal self tomorrow."

"Was your mattress uncomfortable?" Artie enquires.

It wasn't the mattress that was uncomfortable; it was sleeping there alone whilst Quinn slept on the sofa. "You could say that." Santana laughs from the corner of the kitchen before eating a spoonful of her cereal. "Care to share the joke Santana?" I ask.

"You pretending your lack of sleep was due to an uncomfortable mattress, that's the joke."

"I don't know what you're talking about Santana."

"Come off it Berry, Britt and I heard you two last night. I had no idea you were so loud. I must say it was surprisingly hot although maybe in the future you can keep it down a bit and that's coming from me." I'm pretty sure my entire face is the colour of a strawberry. "I have to say, I expected you to complain about me and Britt, not the other way around. I'm oddly proud of you Yentl."

"I didn't realise..."

My sentence is cut short as Brittany enters the kitchen. "Hey Rachel." She hugs me before taking a seat beside her girlfriend who kisses her softly. I don't think I will ever get used to how different a person Santana is around Brittany. "Have you told Rachel that we heard her and Quinn last night?"

I don't know whether it's possible but I'm pretty sure my face reddens even more. I focus on Quinn's breakfast and grab two pieces of bread, ignoring everybody's stares. "Yes, Santana has enlightened everybody with that fact."

Quinn walks into the kitchen before anybody else can speak, her pink hair wet, a bobble holding strands of it up. She greets everybody before wrapping her arms around my waist, kissing me on my shoulder. "Is that for me?" She whispers the words into my ear and a small shiver runs through me.

"It is."

She tugs my ear between her teeth for a second before releasing it. "If I'd have known you'd make me breakfast, I would have spent the night before now." I elbow her softly in the stomach and she fakes pain. "I'm kidding, jeez. Seriously though, it's really sweet of you." Her voice holds sincerity and I can't be sure but it seems like she is surprised at the romantic gesture. It's almost as if she can be sweet and caring but she doesn't expect somebody to be sweet and caring back.

She kisses me on the cheek and her lips linger there for a second before she releases her hold of me.

I scoop the bacon out of the frying pan and onto the bread, cutting it into halves. I pour her a cup of coffee and place the breakfast on the table as she sits down.

"Thanks babe." She smiles warmly at me.

"Don't mention it." I pour myself a bowl of cereal, drowning it in soya milk before taking a seat beside Quinn.

It's unexpected but her hand comes to rest on my thigh instantly. I turn to look at her but her attention is solely on her breakfast.

I don't know what's got into her but I really like this touchy feely side of Quinn.

They may only be little actions but I don't want them to stop any time soon.

Santana finishes her coffee. "I was just telling your girlfriend that maybe tonight you might want to keep the noise down. As hot as Berry screaming in the next room might be, I don't want to hear it when I'm trying to sleep. It's off putting."

Quinn doesn't seem affected at all and takes a bite of her bacon sandwich. "Well that's odd because I don't find it off putting; in fact I find it unbelievably sexy, especially when she screams my name."

Santana half smirks at Quinn's response but doesn't get a chance to reply as Kurt coughs awkwardly. "Okay, I'm hearing information that I don't care for so how about we change the topic of conversation."

Brittany bobs her head in agreement. "Seeing as me and Santana haven't been to New York since we lost Nationals, I want to go sightseeing."

"Britt babe, we saw the sights last time we were here."

"But that was years ago, they might have changed."

Santana smiles lovingly. "I don't think they will have." Brittany pouts at her girlfriend and that is all it takes to change Santana's mind. "We'll see whatever you want to."

"I wouldn't mind sightseeing," Mercedes chimes in, tapping her husband on the shoulder. "We can take pictures for Andrew and Jennifer for when they're older." Sam mumbles his agreement before taking a sip of his orange juice.

"Well that works out quite well because Blaine and I were thinking yesterday that we could take you all to see the sights today. I mean obviously Quinn and Rachel have already seen them since they both live in New York but it will be a nice group outing."

"Actually I've never really done the whole sightseeing thing so that group outing works for me," Quinn comments.

"Really?" I question. "But you've lived here for ten years?"

Quinn shrugs her shoulders. "I've always found that it's the places you don't live in that you go sightseeing."

"That's settled then," Kurt states happily. "I'll let Blaine and Puck know when they return."

"Where are they?" I inquire.

"They've gone to collect Finn from the airport." Kurt glances at the clock on the wall. "They should be back any minute now."

As if on cue, we hear the front door open and Quinn's hand momentarily tightens on my thigh before her grip relaxes.

"That'll be them now." Kurt heads towards the hallway and the sound of muffled voices can be heard as he greets everybody.

"Well this is nice," Santana states. "I give it ten seconds before this kitchen is filled with an unpleasant awkwardness."

Finn walks in straight after Santana finishes speaking and I'm surprised at how correct Santana was, the kitchen does become unbelievably awkward.

"Well what do you know; it took less time than I thought." Santana laughs before grabbing Brittany's hand. "Come on babe; let's make use of the quiet upstairs before we have to go." Brittany giggles and follows her girlfriend willingly, greeting Finn politely as she passes him.

Finn says hello to everybody else, receiving a hug from Mike before his attention falls to me. Kurt shouts from the hallway that everybody should meet back in the kitchen at 12 ready to leave and I'm not surprised that everybody else suddenly vacates the room to get ready for sightseeing, leaving Quinn and me alone with Finn.

Finn makes his way towards me and briefly hovers behind my seat. Quinn stares at him, almost as if she's sizing him up but he doesn't look twice at her.

"Hi Rachel."

"Hi Finn."

I stand up and he hugs me straight away. "I've missed you." I hug him back and realise that I've missed him too; the full force of how much hits me when he lifts me off my feel slightly. I used to love it when he'd pick me during hugs, I don't really know why. He places me back on the ground and steps back. "How have you been? I didn't get a chance to speak to you at Mercedes and Sam's wedding."

"I know, I'm sorry about that, I couldn't stay long but I've been good, what about you?"

"Things have been okay," Finn replies, a hint of sadness filling his voice. I question him silently and he still understands what my expressions mean. "I've just broken up with my girlfriend."

"I'm sorry Finn." Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Quinn stand and leave the kitchen and I want to follow but Finn starts speaking once more.

"Don't be. I realised that she wasn't worth my trouble. I caught her cheating on me."

I do feel sorry for him; Finn is a lovely guy and doesn't deserve to be cheated on. He deserves better than that. He looks slightly like a kicked puppy and I wrap my arms around him once more. It's such a simple gesture but I realise that it's something Quinn and I don't do.

We don't hug.

At least not properly

This morning at breakfast when she wrapped her arms around my waist was the closest we've come to hugging.

"Finn bro, you're coming to the nearest pub with me and Artie. Everybody else is going sightseeing but we're going drinking." I step away from Finn as Noah enters the kitchen throwing one arm around Finn's shoulder. Finn's focus is still on me and I don't think he's even heard Noah. Noah shoves Finn to get his attention. "Yo man, let's get going."

The shove seems to have done the trick and Finn turns to face Noah. "What?"

"You, me and Artie are going drinking. Have you gone deaf or something?"

Finn gives him a lacklustre apology. "I was talking to Rachel, Puck."

I shake my head. "No it's fine Finn, you go."

Finn stares at me for several more seconds before turning his attention to Noah. "Okay then, let's go."

Noah grins widely. "Perfect! Adios princess." He kisses me on the head and walks towards the hallway where Artie is waiting for him.

"I guess I'll see you later tonight, we should have a catch-up." Finn suggests and I agree before bidding him goodbye and heading upstairs in search of Quinn.

Our bedroom door is ajar and I can hear movement from the other side before I push it open and see Quinn unpacking her suitcase. "What are you doing?"

"Unpacking, I would have thought that was obvious." There's a slight edge to her voice as she speaks and she seems tenser than earlier.

"I thought you were leaving them there all week."

"I was going to but you said you were a neat freak so..." Quinn replies, throwing some clothes from her case onto the bed.

My heart swells with adoration at Quinn and before I can stop myself, I'm walking towards her. She must sense my closeness as she turns around and I wrap my arms around her before she has the chance to speak. The slight height difference between us is perfect, unlike Finn; I don't have to stand on my tip-toes to hug her. When Brittany had hugged her, she had frozen for a second before giving her a half-hearted hug so I had expected her to do the same with me but she didn't. Her arms wrap around me immediately and she buries her head in my neck.

"Are you okay?" She asks the question quietly and I simply nod my head. The hug must have surprised her; I mean it did come out of the blue. I just couldn't believe that Quinn and I hadn't hugged before now. Her arms tighten around me and she places a soft kiss on my neck before she releases her hold on me. "What was that for?"

"I realised that we hadn't properly hugged before and I wanted to."

Quinn smiles. "Didn't I hear Mercedes say yesterday that you used to ask before hugging people?"

I blush. "I did, I guess I wanted to give people a chance to walk away."

"Why didn't you ask me then?"

"I didn't want to give you the chance to walk away," I admit quietly.

Quinn runs her fingers through her hair. "I wouldn't have."

All I want to do is hug her again but instead I stop myself and change the subject. "You disappeared quickly from the kitchen."

Quinn places some clothes into a nearby drawer, avoiding my gaze. "I thought I'd give you two some alone time." She glances at her watch. "That was a short catch up."

"We didn't really get a chance to talk," I reply. "Noah came to drag him to a nearby bar with Artie; it would appear that the idea of sightseeing doesn't appeal to them. They'd much rather drink themselves into a drunken stupor, although I think Artie may have been slightly coerced."

Quinn chuckles lightly, ridding her suitcase of the last few clothes unveiling a small, tattered, brown teddy bear. I walk over to her suitcase whilst Quinn places more clothes into her drawer and grab hold of the teddy softly, carefully minding the ear which is hanging on by a thread. "Now this is just adorable," I say, stroking the bear's fur. "It's so soft and cuddly."

Quinn spins around rather quickly at my voice and her face drops in embarrassment. "You probably think it's stupid. A 28 year old with a teddy bear."

"Don't be ridiculous, I have one back home. My dad gave it to me when I was three and I've kept it ever since. I guess everybody has that one special cuddly toy which means something to them."

"I bought it with the intention of giving it to somebody else." She doesn't seem as embarrassed now. "I just...I couldn't part with it, silly I know."

"I don't think that's silly, does he have a name?"

"Boo," Quinn replies as she scuffs her feet slightly.

"Boo." I cuddle the teddy bear and immediately realise how much it smells like Quinn, it's comforting, if anything it makes me like the bear even more. "I think Boo could do with being sewed, his ear is falling off and his fur is ripped." I point out the small tear.

"I know but I can't sew so I'm just extra careful with him."

"Bit of needle and thread is all that's needed," I say. "I can do it when we get back if you want?"

"Really?" Quinn smiles at me before replying, "I'd love that, thank you."

"You're welcome Quinn."

"So..." Her entire disposition screams nerves. "You honestly don't think I'm strange?"

"No, not in the slightest." I hand Quinn the teddy bear, smiling at her. "After this week is over, I'll have to show you big white ted."

"Big white ted?"

"My white teddy bear," I clarify. "As you can tell when I was young my imagination was second to none." Quinn laughs before placing the teddy bear on the sofa.

When she turns to face me, I can see that she has her bottom lip tugged between her teeth. "I meant to ask you when you came back about Finn but I guess we got side-tracked."

"Ask me what?"

"Did you tell him about the fact that you have a 'girlfriend' now?" She uses air quotes around the word girlfriend.

I shake my head. "I didn't have the time. I'll tell him tonight after we get back from sightseeing, as long as he isn't too inebriated. Although I won't be surprised if Noah tells him first, he doesn't think before speaking when drunk, actually that can also be true when he's sober."

"I want to be there."

"Why?"

She zips her suitcase back up. "I don't trust him."

"Quinn that's ridiculous," I reply. "You don't even know him."

Quinn walks towards me and stands directly in front of me. "Do you trust me?"

"Quinn..." She quirks her eyebrow at me, silently telling me to just answer the question. "Yes I trust you but I don't understand what that's got to do with anything?"

"Because you don't know me." She smiles. "At least, not really."

She places her suitcase underneath the bed joining mine and I can't fault her logic. Everybody has instincts and first impressions and truthfully I've never once felt like I couldn't trust Quinn, in fact I feel safer with her than anybody else. From what I've seen, Quinn has good first impressions, I mean she sized Santana up straight away and knew how to get her to back down; I can't help but wonder whether the reason she doesn't trust Finn is because he's my ex but then surely that would suggest that she was jealous.

And if we're only playing make-believe, why would she be jealous?

More importantly, if we're only playing make-believe, why do I want her to be?


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: These characters belong to the creators of Glee, I own nothing. If I did, Faberry would most definitely be a couple.

Authors Note: Right, I know that people are waiting for the Quinn/Finn/Rachel interaction and I promise that it is coming. It was supposed to be in this chapter but then I was writing their sightseeing trip and I couldn't seem to stop. As I didn't want the chapter to be too long, it will be in the next chapter. Now, I don't live in New York, nor have I ever been so all the information about sightseeing I've got from the internet, so I hope it's okay. Thank you for all the reviews and story alerts, I'm glad you are enjoying this story

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6:<strong>

I stand near the front door, waiting for everybody else to make an appearance so we can leave. Quinn had disappeared into the kitchen several minutes ago and told me to wait for her here rather than following. I'm curious as to why I couldn't follow; instead I'm left on my lonesome.

The front door opens and I turn my head to see Finn walk in, his eyes meet mine and he smiles. "I didn't think you'd still be here. I thought you were off to see the sights."

"We are, I'm just waiting for everybody else," I answer. "I thought you were supposed to be drinking yourself into oblivion with Noah and Artie."

"We're just about to leave; I'm under strict instructions to get as much money as I have. That's why I've come back," he explains as he heads to the stairs. "Are you sure you don't want to come with us?"

I nod my head. "Thank you for the offer but I'm quite content to go sightseeing. I haven't done it in a while so it'll be fun."

He walks up the first couple of stairs. "Okay, well I'll see you when I get back. Have fun."

He passes Santana and Brittany as they come down the stairs, Santana mumbles a half-felt hello whilst Brittany greets him in a cheery fashion. Santana glances over her shoulder to make sure Finn has disappeared from view. "So how did Finnocence take the news about you and your new girlfriend?" She questions as Kurt and Mike join us in the corridor, now we're just waiting for Mercedes, Tina and Blaine. "I wish I could have seen his face, I bet it was classic. Although I must say he didn't seem too disappointed just then."

"I didn't get a chance to tell him. So I will be telling him later tonight," I say, as Mercedes and Tina walk down the stairs. "Although I'm glad that it amuses you so much."

"Got to take the simple pleasures whenever you can," Santana replies lightly.

Quinn walks out of the kitchen with Blaine, the pair engaging in light conversation. She sends a small smile my way before walking towards me. "What were two doing?"

"Nothing for you to worry about," she states before leaning against the nearby wall and fingering her cross necklace. "I didn't mean to keep you waiting so long."

"Don't worry about it, although I must admit that I'm intrigued as to why I couldn't come with you."

Quinn pecks me on the lips quickly. "It's a surprise." She smiles. One thing I've noticed about Quinn is that her smile is really infectious; I find it impossible not to mirror her actions whenever she smiles.

Kurt gives his fiancé a brief kiss. "Are we all ready?" He receives murmurs of agreement in response. "The excitement which radiates from you all is fantastic," he states sarcastically.

Quinn bumps my hip. "Are you excited?"

I've seen the sights that New York has to offer before but strangely, I find myself quite excited for the day out. I personally think that my excitement is more to do with Quinn coming with us than the actual sights. "Surprisingly yes, what about you?"

"Yeah I am, but for the company more than the sights."

And just like that, my heart beats that little bit faster.

* * *

><p>I stare out at New York from the observation deck in the Empire State building. Mercedes is currently snapping photo after photo of the background whilst Mike and Tina are staring at the sights using a pair of binoculars. We had just come from the Statue of Liberty where Brittany had decided that she didn't fancy visiting the Empire State building, so she and Santana are currently off exploring the other sights New York has to offer. We agreed to meet up in two hours at Central Park, although I have a sneaky suspicion that they won't sightsee, they will most likely find a place to have sex or grab something to eat, or both.<p>

I'd be surprised if they do anything else.

Despite having lived in New York for seven years now, I've only visited the Empire State building once before, so the view from the 86th floor is still mesmerising and breath-taking. The only time I visited here, I came with Kurt and we both acted like giddy tourists, since then Kurt has come several times with Blaine and his dad and Carol so he isn't as excited as everybody else who is experiencing this for the first time.

I turn my attention to Quinn who is standing a couple of feet behind me. "You have to come closer to truly enjoy the sights New York has to offer."

Quinn shakes her head. "I can see them from here, besides, you look like you're enjoying yourself too much, I don't want to steal your spot."

I scan the observation deck and although there are masses of people scattered around, there is still room for Quinn to stand and enjoy the sights, even if there wasn't I would move for her. I sigh, clearly she isn't as interested as me and most other people are in the breath-taking view.

I hear the elevator ding and turn my head immediately, smiling slightly. "Come on." I grab Quinn's hand and lead her towards the elevator.

"Where are we going?" She asks but allows me to lead her.

"To the observation deck," I answer simply.

"But we're at the observation deck," Quinn states plainly.

"We're at the 86th floor observation deck," I correct her. "We're going to the 102nd floor observation deck. The view here is spectacular but I'm sure it's even more magnificent up there. I defy you not to enjoy it. I've never been up there and since you've never done the whole sightseeing thing, I thought we could both experience it for the first time together." Quinn releases my hand and stops walking.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't need to go up; I'm fine here. You can go if you want and I'll just stay here with everybody else."

"It's something you have to experience Quinn, besides everybody else will come up shortly. We've all bought tickets and Mercedes said back at the house that she wanted to go to the top so if you don't come with me, they'll drag you up." I hold out my hand for her to take once more. "Trust me; I'm sure you'll love it."

Quinn gives me a nervous smile but takes my offered hand. I return her smile and continue to walk towards the elevator, joining several other people who have also had the same idea as me. The elevator doors close seconds later and Quinn's hold on my hand tightens, whilst her breathing becomes slightly laboured. "Quinn, are you alright?"

My voice seems to bring her out of whatever thoughts she was having and she nods before closing her eyes for a second. I can see her chest rise before falling as she takes a deep breath. When her eyes open, her breathing is steady once more and she loosens her grip on my hand. "I'm fine."

The elevator dings signalling that we've reached our destination and the elevator operator opens the doors, revealing the sights of New York once more and my expectations have definitely been met. The view is truly wonderful. I mean I thought the view from the 86th floor was impressive but this surpasses it by a mile. Although I enjoyed feeling the cool breeze on my neck previously, I'm glad that this observation deck is inside, it makes me feel safer I take a step towards the windows and stare out. I glance over my shoulder to see Quinn hovering by the elevator, showing no signs of moving.

"What are you doing? Come over here."

She takes a couple of steps towards me before pausing and stepping back again. "I'm okay here."

"You have to come right to the window otherwise you're not getting the full experience." I beckon her forward but she doesn't move an inch and suddenly the realisation hits me. I'm ashamed I didn't realise it sooner. I actually feel foolish. "Quinn, are you afraid of heights?"

"Not heights per say. I mean I can go to the top of a tall building, like now, although I do feel slightly nervous. I just…" She runs her fingers through her hair. "I can't look down, the thought of going to that window and looking down makes me feel scared and dizzy. Plus if I look down, I'll start to think that I'm going to fall and that is not a good thing."

"Why didn't you say anything?" I ask. "I just thought you weren't that bothered about seeing the sights. I would never have made you come here at all let alone to the top."

"You didn't make me do anything," Quinn replies.

"You wouldn't be on this floor if I hadn't asked you to come with me."

Quinn nods. "Exactly, you asked me to come with you, you didn't make me. It's funny but I can't seem to say no to you," she replies. "Besides you said trust me and I do."

"Do you want to go back down?"

She shakes her head. "You want to see the sights so we'll stay until you've seen them. Besides, it might help me slightly."

I take a step closer to her. "You know you're perfectly safe Quinn. We're inside an enclosure, nothing is going to happen." I hold my hand out but she doesn't take it like earlier. "You don't have to look down, you can just look straight."

"Whenever people say don't look down, people always look down. It's human nature to do what you're told not to."

I laugh quietly. "That is very true. Okay, how about we just take a couple of steps closer; you don't have to go right to the window."

"I thought you had to go right to the window to properly enjoy the experience," Quinn repeats my earlier statement.

"You do," I reply. "But I'm not going to make you stand that close when you're afraid. I just think you should come a little closer, I'm going to be right here." I wiggle my fingers, hoping this time she'll take my hand. "Trust me."

Quinn smirks at my final statement and after a moment's hesitation, she takes my outstretched hand. I beam widely and lead her towards the window, stopping as promised several feet away. "See, it's not too bad is it."

Quinn sighs lightly. "No."

"How long have you been afraid of heights?"

She takes a small step closer before returning to my side straight away. "I'm not afraid of heights, it's just…"

"Looking down, okay then how long have you been afraid of that?"

Quinn shrugs her shoulders. "I don't really know. I don't think it's a phobia, more a dislike." I laugh at her lack of acceptance that she has a fear. "I just remember going to the park one day and climbing to the top of the slide but I couldn't go down it. I just froze at the top." She tightens her hold on my hand as somebody brushes past us. "Ever since then, I don't think I've liked looking down. It makes me feel queasy."

"Do you want to go back down?" I ask again. "And by down I mean to the ground floor, not just the 86th floor."

Quinn exhales loudly. "No I'll be okay, the only way to conquer your fears is to face them right."

"Well yes that is generally what is said but you don't have to do that now."

"I want to," she replies. "You'll come with me right."

"Always."

She walks slowly towards the window, pausing temporarily and for a moment I think she is going to come back before she starts walking again. She grabs the metal bar underneath the window and I can see her hands shaking. I come to stand beside her, placing my hand over one of hers, calming her down. "Just keep your eyes straight ahead," I tell her. "I'm right here; I won't let anything happen to you."

Quinn keeps her head incredibly straight and after several seconds, I feel her hands loosen around the bar suggesting that she is more relaxed now.

"We should have borrowed the binoculars off Mike and Tina," I state. "Then we would have been able to see all the roof gardens."

"We'll have to do that next time."

A soft silence falls over us as we both soak up the view. We remain silent for quite a while before I break it. "You know, I'm scared of spiders." Out of the corner of my eye I can see the corner of Quinn's mouth curl upwards. "I just don't think it's natural for them to have eight legs, I mean surely that is just an unnecessary amount of legs."

"What do you do when you have one in your apartment?"

"My next door neighbour catches them for me." Quinn laughs loudly at my confession. I bump her hip softly. "It's not my fault, they're terrifying and they always seem to move really fast when you try to catch them which frightens me even more."

"Well if there is ever a spider in your apartment when I'm there, I'll catch it for you."

"Careful Quinn, I might call you round just to catch them," I reply playfully.

She stares right at me and her penetrating gaze makes me somewhat nervous. "I wouldn't mind that." I can feel my heartbeat quicken once more. "It's beautiful," Quinn states as she turns her attention back to the view.

"Yeah, it really is," I reply, although I'm not looking at the view, I'm looking at Quinn.

Her fear has made her vulnerable and since we met, I've never seen her fragile or vulnerable. She never really lets her guard down so seeing her like this, more open with me, makes her even more beautiful in my eyes.

I'm brought out of my thoughts when Quinn suddenly steps backwards, breathing heavily. Immediately I'm by her side, rubbing her back in a soothing manner. "What happened?"

"I looked down."

"Why did you do that?"

She shrugs her shoulders. "I guess I just wanted to see if I could." She takes a deep breath." In case it isn't obvious, I couldn't." She smirks slightly at the end of her sentence.

The elevator dings and the sounds of Kurt and everybody else fill the floor. Quinn straightens at the sound, shielding her fear from everybody else. "Do you want to leave?"

Quinn nods slowly. "Please." Her voice is quiet and pleading.

"There you two are, we were wondering where you two had got to," Blaine comments as he strolls towards us.

"Yeah we came up here a short while ago, I would have told you but you were all enjoying the view and I didn't want to disrupt any of you." Quinn's hand finds mine. "But we were just about to leave; Quinn here is in desperate need of some food."

"Well that was bad timing," Blaine jokes. "Do you want us to come with you?"

I shake my head. "No, you all stay and enjoy the view. We'll grab something to eat and then meet you when you're done."

Blaine nods before returning to the others, informing them of our plans. I'm pretty sure they're not bothered as long as they can still stay and experience the 102nd floor. "You ready?"

Quinn nods and leads me to the elevator. After several minutes, the doors open and a few people exit whilst we enter. "I'm sorry Quinn."

"For what?"

"I shouldn't have made you look out the window."

Quinn scoffs quietly. "You didn't make me do anything, I told you that. I wouldn't have gone with you if I didn't want to. Besides, that's the first time I've been that high for that long before panicking so thank you. I would never have done that without you." She smiles and pecks my cheek. "I should be the one apologising."

"Why?"

"You didn't really get time to enjoy the sights."

I chuckle softly as the elevator begins to descend. "Don't worry about that, I most certainly enjoyed the sights I saw.

* * *

><p>Quinn and I walk hand in hand through Central Park as we approach Wollman Rink. We had just walked around whilst everybody else stayed at the Empire State building, occasionally stopping to peruse some shops. I had suggested actually getting something to eat but Quinn had declined stating she wasn't hungry. The rest of our party had joined us about half an hour after we had left to head to Central Park. Santana and Brittany should be making an appearance soon and I have to wonder how drunk Noah, Finn and Artie are presently. Kurt, Blaine, Mercedes, Sam, Tina and Mike all enter the ice rink whilst Quinn and I linger behind.<p>

"Why didn't you want to go ice skating?" Quinn asks as we stand around the fence watching Tina fall over as soon as she attempted to move. It doesn't surprise me however, that Mike looks just as graceful on the ice as he does off it.

I'm pretty sure when Brittany arrives, she'll match his skills. It used to be a joy watching them both dance in Glee Club so watching them ice skate should be just as good.

"I can't ice skate," I mumble.

"What was that?"

"I can't ice skate," I repeat, louder this time. I feel embarrassed at my admission because I pride myself with the knowledge that I can do most things. I never went ice skating back in Ohio and although I pass this ice rink all the time, I've never wanted to step foot on it.

"Have you ever tried?"

I shake my head and blush. "I don't want to make a fool of myself by falling over which I know I will."

"So you perform in front of thousands of people but you're scared of going on a bit of ice?"

"I'm not scared."

"You are." Quinn laughs. "You made me admit I was scared on the Empire State building, now it's your turn." She places her thumb on my cheek and moves my face to the rink. "Look how many people are falling. You're actually in the minority if you don't fall."

"Maybe if it was emptier," I answer. "You can go if you want."

Quinn shakes her head. "I don't want to leave you."

When Quinn says things like that, I can't help but feel all warm and fuzzy inside. "Don't worry about me, if you want to skate, go ahead. I'll cheer you on from the side lines," I state happily.

She shakes her head once more. "Maybe in a little bit." She turns around and leads me towards a nearby bench before sitting down. "I'm hungry now, are you?"

As if on cue, my stomach growls with hunger. "Does that give you your answer? Where do you want to go to eat?"

Quinn rummages through her bag before pulling a lunch box out containing two sandwiches. She checks them both before handing one to me. I can't help but stare at her in confusion. "This is kind of a day trip and whenever I used to take day trips with my family when I was younger, we always had packed lunches." She puts the sandwich back in her bag when I fail to take it. "Sorry, it was a stupid idea."

"No," I say quickly. "It's a lovely idea, I'd love a sandwich."

Quinn appears to be less embarrassed now and brings the sandwiches back out, handing me the left one. "That's got something called tofurkey in it. I hope that's okay."

"Yeah that's perfect." My heart swells with adoration at her efforts. I mean she only found out I was a vegan yesterday and she is already catering lunch to suit me. "Where did you get this?"

"I asked Blaine if I could borrow some of the food he'd bought to cater for you," she explains. "That's why I was talking to him earlier. I don't really know what vegans can and can't eat so you'll have to teach me. I don't want to give you something wrong one day."

One day.

That implies that we'll eat together again and I can't help but be overjoyed at that fact. If after this week ends, we went back to the way we were, I'd be severely disappointed.

I love spending time with her.

More than I ever thought I would.

"That's really sweet of you Quinn." I take a bite of my sandwich. "Thank you."

"I told you, you don't have to thank me for every little thing. I am your girlfriend after all." I notice that she doesn't mention the word 'pretend'. Quinn rummages through her bag and holds out a packet of crisps. "I have these for you too, I bought this myself when you were staring at New York memorabilia but I'm pretty sure they're vegan friendly."

I examine the packet and realise that I buy them for myself. "They are."

Quinn takes a bite of her own sandwich. "Can I ask you something?" I nod, unable to speak as my mouth is full. "Why did you and Finn break up?"

I hadn't been expecting that. "We wanted different things. I wanted to go to NYADA and be on Broadway and he..." I pause trying to figure out the best way to word my answer.

"Didn't want you to?" Quinn finishes.

"No, he just…he didn't want to move to New York. He had plans in Ohio to manage his step-father's tyre shop. He dreamed of having a business, but it wasn't in New York," I explain. "We were going to try a long-distance relationship but in the end we both decided that it would be best to start afresh. It was a mutual break-up and I'm glad it happened. If he'd have come to New York, he would have resented me for it eventually because it wasn't his dream. It was mine. He asked me once whether I was in love with him or who I wanted him to be and although I did love him, I think I loved who I wanted him to be more. I think I wanted him to have the same dreams as me and that meant our relationship would never work. I've always been very passionate about my dreams; I think he always came second best." I scrunch my face up at what I'd just said. "That sounds really bad doesn't it?"

"No, it sounds honest," she replies. "I think it's great that you're passionate and determined. I mean you made it. You achieved your dreams."

I smile before swallowing another bite of my sandwich. "What about you? Any exes that you've broken up with?"

Quinn rubs the back of her neck. "You're my first girlfriend. I told you, I've never really been into that whole commitment thing."

"Why not?"

Quinn wipes her mouth with a tissue. "That's a story for another day."

"One that you'll tell me?" I question, knowing full well that Quinn doesn't open up.

Quinn places her hand on my thigh. "You know, I've never felt comfortable talking to anybody about my past. I've never wanted to open up to somebody else. But you…I don't know, you seem to be the exception."

"Does that mean you trust me enough to tell me?"

Quinn laughs quietly. "I seem to trust you enough to do anything you ask. It's scary really how much I trust you when we don't even really know each other."

I can't stop the smile which spreads across my face at the fact that she trusts me. "I'm a very trustworthy person," I quip and she smiles back at me.

"I will tell you Rachel, just not now." Her eyes are almost pleading for me to drop the subject.

I nod my head at her answer, satisfied that I will get answers as to why Quinn is the way she is.

Why she is so guarded.

The sunlight which is streaming over us suddenly disappears as a shadow descends over the pair of us. "Well aren't you two just adorable. You've made your own sandwiches," Santana jests.

Brittany stands beside her and bounces on the balls of her feet. "I'm going on the rink." She bumps shoulders with Santana. "Are you coming?"

Santana smiles at her girlfriend. "I'll come in a minute B."

Brittany nods and strides happily over to the ice rink. "So where have you two been? Someplace to eat or someplace to have sex?" I ask as Santana makes me budge up so she can sit down.

Santana smirks at my question. "Neither actually." I'm surprised at her answer. "I did suggest both options to Britt but she wanted to see the Central Park Zoo; we've been there since we left you."

"I don't think I will ever get used to how whipped you are Santana."

"Shut up." She pushes me in the shoulder but doesn't deny my accusation.

Brittany waves from the edge of the rink, beckoning her girlfriend over. "I best go join her before she spends the entire time skating with Mike," Santana states as she stands. "Are you two coming? Or are you going to continue being an old married couple eating a packed lunch?"

"We'll be right behind you," Quinn answers, causing me to look at her with a worried expression as she used the word 'we' rather than just her.

Santana glances at Quinn's hand which remains on my thigh. "It's really disgusting how cute you two are together." She walks away and joins Brittany on the rink, nearly falling over as Brittany hugs her quickly.

Quinn gathers up our rubbish before marching towards a nearby bin and throwing it in. When she returns she doesn't sit back down, instead she holds her hand out. "Come on, we're going to skate."

"Quinn, I told you I can't skate and I do not fancy falling over on my bum repeatedly. Besides, have you seen how sharp those skates are? If I fall, somebody could take my fingers off."

Quinn scoffs but doesn't move. "You can give me as many excuses as you want, you are coming. I'll hold on to you so if you fall, I fall. I'll share the embarrassment. And if you fall, make your hands into fists and then nobody can 'take your fingers off'."

"But…"

Quinn grabs my hands and pulls me up before I can protest further. "I went to the top of the Empire State building and looked out for you, the least you can do is skate. At least this is at ground level."

"I knew I shouldn't have asked you to come to the top," I reply playfully. "Well Miss Fabray, it appears you have given me no choice, but just bear in mind that at this moment I intensely dislike you."

She shrugs her shoulders. "It'll pass and then you'll love me again." She leads me over to the entrance before paying for our entry.

"I thought I said that if there were any financial requirements, I'd pay. It was part of our deal."

Quinn puts her skates on, tying the laces. "You paid for the Empire State building and that was more expensive, it's the least I can do, especially since I am making you do this. Besides, I'm ignoring the arrangements of our deal because I'm having a good time with you."

The warm and fuzzy feeling has returned.

She stands up as I nervously put my skates on. "Do you want me to tie them for you? To make sure they're extra tight." I nod and she kneels down to tie them. "There." She looks up but doesn't move off the ground so we're at eye level.

Staring into her hazel eyes, it seems like we're the only two people in the park because right now, I can't look away from her. Her eyes are captivating. Subconsciously I lean a little closer and I'm not sure whether it's my imagination or whether she does the same.

Only a little further and I'd be kissing her.

A kiss which wouldn't just be foreplay.

A kiss which would happen because right now, I don't want to do anything but kiss her.

Her hand comes up to cup my cheek, her thumb tracing my cheek softly. Her breathing slowly becomes slightly unsteady and her gaze darts down to my lips before back to my eyes, almost as if she's silently asking for permission. I can feel her breath on my lips and my eyes involuntarily close, my entire body brimming with anticipation.

"Are you lovebirds coming or what?"

My eyes snap open as Santana shouts from the side of the ice rink, destroying our moment. I don't think I've ever disliked Santana as much as I do right now. Quinn stands up quickly and turns around. "We're coming, calm down."

I stand in my skates and already I feel unsteady. I look down at the concrete and the thought of falling without even being on the ice is worrying me. Quinn entwines our fingers. "You'll be fine Rach. I've got you."

It's amazing how much safer I feel from such a small action.

We enter the rink and her hand momentarily leaves mine so she can tie her hair up preventing it from falling in front of her eyes whilst she skates. As soon as her hand leaves mine, I can feel my legs beginning to tremble through nerves and although I try my hardest to keep my balance, I squeal as my feet go from underneath me and my bum hits the cold floor.

Quinn turns at the squeal and I can see from her face that she wants to laugh. "I thought you weren't going to let me fall?" I question, in mock annoyance.

Quinn helps me stand and her hand wraps around my waist once I'm up. "I didn't think you'd fall from just standing, I meant when you were moving babe." She pulls me closer to her for a quick hug and buries her face in the crook of my neck for a second before pulling back. "Forgive me?"

How could I not when she initiates a hug and sets my senses alight?

"I suppose I do."

"You suppose?" She laughs. "I think you better properly forgive me or I might just let you fall again."

She moves her hand an inch away from my waist but that's all it takes. "Okay, I forgive you."

Quinn beams and kisses my forehead. "Now do you want to skate with me or hold on to the wall and skate like that? If you choose the second option, I'll still be beside you."

Although I think it would be better to hold on to the wall, therefore moving at my own pace, I don't want to lose contact with Quinn. "Skate with you. I apologise in advance if I make you fall too."

"Don't be daft; it's all part of the fun if you fall."

I look around at everybody else who is skating and they all seem to be having fun without falling. I'm distracted momentarily as Brittany twirls Santana around gracefully in synchronisation with Mike twirling Tina. "Now just drag your feet along the ice and you'll be skating." Quinn guides me to the nearby wall so I can hold on before she gives a quick demonstration. "Okay?"

I nod as her hands find mine once more, before she guides me further onto the ice; I stare at her in awe as she skates backwards. I can't even skate forwards and she skates backwards with such elegance and ease. I copy her feet movements and I'm surprised that I don't fall. "See, you're doing fine."

She releases my hands momentarily and skates around me several times before skating over to Kurt and Blaine. I don't feel as unsteady on my feet as I did when I first stepped onto the ice, although saying that, I don't want to make any form of movement. Quinn skates towards me before stopping, shavings of ice flying up. I'm jealous of how easy this is for her but then again, going to the top of the Empire State building was easy for me and not her.

If she could do that for me, I can do this for her.

She skates behind me and wraps both hands around my waist. "Are you okay? We can leave if you want."

"I'm perfect and I don't want to leave."

She grins into the back of my neck. "Do you want to try skating on your own? I mean your balance has got better."

"I don't think I can, I don't even want to move from this spot."

Quinn glides across the ice so she is facing me. "You're Rachel Berry, you can do anything."

She's right.

"Okay," I reply nervously and I decide to try and skate over to the nearby wall. I drag my feet along the ice like Quinn showed me and I can feel her presence beside me, making me feel safer. I'm gaining more and more confidence and elect to speed up my skating which proves to be a mistake. I can feel myself losing control and as my right foot goes the wrong way, I reach out to grab Quinn's arm in an attempt to steady myself.

She obviously has the same idea.

Her hand grabs onto the top of my arm but her actions are not quick enough and my feet give way causing me to fall, bringing Quinn down with me. I land hard on my back with Quinn lying on top of me. I instantly make my hands into fists like Quinn told me to do in case anybody skates near us.

"Sorry," I state quietly.

Quinn laughs softly before she brushes a strand of hair out of my eye. "Are you okay?"

"I think so," I reply although I'm pretty sure I'm going to be sore in the morning. "You?"

"Never better," Quinn jokes.

"There are little children skating," Santana playfully says as she comes to a halt beside us, her ice shavings flying in Quinn and mine's direction. "It's bad enough I have to witness you two together, let alone their innocent eyes." She laughs before skating away.

In spite of myself, I laugh too.

Quinn rolls off me onto the ice before standing and holding her hands out to help me up. I open my mouth when I back on two skates to speak but she beats me to it. "In my defence, I did try to stop you falling that time."

"I know," I reply as I brush myself off. "Thank you."

"I guess we both experienced something new today," Quinn says before she turns somewhat shy. "Can I tell you something?"

I rub my back to try and sooth the pain. "Of course."

"I'm really glad you asked me to come with you this week."

For the third time today, that warm and fuzzy feeling has returned and as she entwines our fingers and guides me across the ice, I realise something and smile at the realisation.

I think I like Quinn.

* * *

><p><strong>The internet tells me that Wollman rink isn't open during the summer but just for this story it is because I wanted a role reversal from the Empire State building.<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: These characters belong to the creators of Glee, I own nothing. If I did, Faberry would most definitely be a couple.

Authors Note: Broken record time again but thank you all so much for the reviews and story alerts, it really amazes me that people like this story! To SilvaLDN, the week at Kurt's is between July 9th and July 13th, I mentioned it briefly in the first chapter. I'm pretty sure that falls in American high school summer vacation but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong :) This chapter is pretty long but I promised Rachel/Finn/Quinn interaction and here it is :) Heading towards the angst now, I mean it can't all be cuteness and fluff! Hope you enjoy and as usual all mistakes are mine.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7:<strong>

By the time we returned to the house, after deciding to grab something to eat at a restaurant near Central Park, it was nearing nine o'clock. Quinn and I stand hand in hand outside the front door as Kurt rummages around his pockets for the house keys. Quinn's thumb is stroking the back of my hand softly. The gesture is soothing and comfortable, almost as if it's a natural thing for her to do. Blaine stops Kurt from searching anymore, withdrawing his own keys and unlocking the door. Everybody follows them inside but Quinn asks me to stay behind.

"Is everything okay?" I'm curious as to why she stopped me from going inside considering the sun has almost set and it is slowly becoming colder.

"Yeah I just…I wanted to thank you for today." Her smile is warm and genuine and my heart swells at how sweet she is.

"You don't need to thank me, I didn't do anything."

She swings our entwined hands back and forth. "Yes you did, you just don't realise it yet."

My eyebrows furrow at her cryptic statement but when she wraps her arms around my neck and hugs me, I allow myself to get lost in her. Hugs are such simple things that I've always enjoyed, but with Quinn, I enjoy them so much more. My head naturally falls into the crook of her neck and the vanilla scent of her hair fills my nostrils.

I can't get enough of her.

She's like a drug, one that only I can enjoy the benefits of.

I'm growing more and more addicted to her all the time. I always want to have some form of contact with her and when we don't share any, I feel almost empty.

I can't believe that it took me this long to realise that I like her.

Although now that I think about it, I don't think these are new feelings. I think I've liked her for a while.

I think part of me has liked her since our first meeting in the bar but our agreement to not let things get too personal clouded those feelings and as a result, I ignored them. However, her actions so far this week have made those feelings that I buried come to the forefront and I can't ignore them any longer.

I wondered why I got butterflies in my stomach when she touched me, why my heart beat that little bit faster whenever she acted like the doting girlfriend but I should have thought of the principle 'Occam's razor.' Which basically means the simplest answer is usually the correct one and the simplest answer had been staring me in the face.

I liked her.

Quinn releases her hold on me and I take a small step back, although still within touching distance. I look up at the night sky and I can imagine that when the stars are out, it is a really beautiful sight.

"What are you looking at?" Quinn asks as she follows my gaze.

"The sky, it must look really beautiful when all the stars are out."

Quinn grabs my hand. "We'll have to come out a little later, when it's darker so you can see the stars." She smiles at me. "And I know it's my fault we're still out here but do you think we could go in now, it's getting colder." I nod and Quinn leads me into the house, closing the door behind us both.

Everybody has settled down in the living room and my eyes fall on Noah who is leaning against the fireplace talking to Santana. If Noah's here that means Finn is too.

An unsettling feeling stirs in my stomach at the thought.

I'm not worried about seeing him; I'm worried about telling him about Quinn. I'm almost positive that he will be alright but I can't seem to shift this niggling doubt at the back of my mind.

Sure enough, Finn walks down the stairs and I instinctively release Quinn's hand. I can see hurt momentary pass over her face before she follows my eyes and sees Finn. She nods her head slowly in understanding, although I can't help but feel bad about releasing her hand so quickly.

Almost as if I was ashamed of her.

"Hey Rachel," he says and I can tell from his voice that he is a little bit tipsy but still sober enough to be coherent. His eyes fall on Quinn and he holds his hand out to greet her. "You must be Quinn. Sorry I didn't get a chance to introduce myself earlier. Things were a tad hectic."

Quinn doesn't show any signs of moving so I poke her softly in the hip and she shakes his hand but doesn't say anything.

"I'm Finn," he says unperturbed, either ignoring her frosty reception or failing to notice it.

"I know."

She's being deliberately short with him. I should know. She's been short with me enough times. It's actually a miracle that he got more than a mono-syllabic answer from her.

"Well it's nice to meet you."

I have to give Finn credit; he is trying to be nice to her. He doesn't know that he's facing a losing battle.

Quinn's gaze doesn't leave his and uncomfortably he looks away, bringing his attention to me. "Do you want to go outside and talk?"

"Yeah, that would be nice," I reply and Finn nods, walking towards the patio door. I start to follow him and can sense Quinn following me. I pause and face her. "Quinn, would you mind staying here." It isn't a question; I'm requesting that she stays with everybody else rather than comes with us.

"I told you I wanted to be there when you tell him."

"I know, because you don't trust him," I reply. "But I do and it is something I'd rather tell him on my own rather than flaunt our relationship in his face."

"What if…" She pauses and lowers his voice. "What if he loses his temper? Mercedes told me that he had a habit of doing that in high school. I just want to make sure you're okay."

Could she be any cuter?

"That's really sweet of you Quinn but I'll be fine. He wouldn't dare lose his temper towards me."

She looks like she's about to argue some more before she concedes. "Fine, but I'm going to be at the patio door and if you need me, I'm coming outside," she says. "No arguments Rachel."

I nod and we walk towards the patio door. As promised, Quinn stays inside the house whilst I walk towards Finn who has taken a seat by the edge of the swimming pool, his feet dangling in the water. I give him a quick hug before taking a seat beside him and mimicking his actions. Sitting here has become one of my favourite places to sit, the feel of the cool water against my feet relaxes me and I love the soft ripples my feet make whenever I kick the water. I glance over my shoulder to see Quinn still standing by the patio door, her eyes never leaving Finn.

"Did you have fun sightseeing?"

"Yeah I did, it was nice to do the tourist things. I haven't done them in so long," I practically gush in excitement. "I even went ice-skating."

Finn laughs in surprise. "Ice-skating? I thought you never wanted to do that."

"I didn't but Quinn advised me to do it and I thoroughly enjoyed it," I state happily.

I find it remarkable that when I didn't want to do something with Finn, most times he would leave the subject alone, on the rare occasion he tried to persuade me, I would stay strong and refuse. But with Quinn, I caved straight away when she asked me to ice skate.

"She seems rather stand-offish," he comments idly averting his gaze from mine.

So he had noticed her unfriendly attitude, he just chose to ignore it.

"She's really not," I reply and I'm surprised at how quickly I jump to her defence. "I just don't think you caught her at the right time." I can see he's about to question further but I don't want Quinn to be our first point of topic. I just want to spend some time with him like we used to, back when we were friends. "How about you? Did you have a good drinking session?"

He nods. "Yeah it was fun, Artie and I stayed reasonably sober but Puck just kept drinking. I'm pretty sure he's sobering up now though."

"Yeah I saw him leaning against the fireplace, talking to Santana."

Finn chuckles loudly. "He's probably doing it so he doesn't fall down and you know he likes to ogle Santana whenever he's drunk. When he's had a few, he also seems to think that he'll be able to persuade Santana to let him join her and Brittany in bed."

I have to laugh at his outlandish behaviour, only Noah could try something like that and get away with it. "Does he actually think that she'll say yes?" I ask him. "Santana wouldn't let anybody touch Brittany."

"It's Puck," he explains simply. "He thinks he's god's gift to women and the exception to all the rules."

It's shocking how accurate that statement is.

I clear my throat nervously. "Speaking of Noah, did he tell you anything about me this afternoon?"

"After about an hour he was too drunk to speak in coherent sentences let alone focus long enough to actually tell me something," Finn replies. "Should he have?"

"No," I state quickly.

A silence creeps upon us before Finn exhales heavily. "I meant what I said earlier."

"What did you say?"

"I've really missed you Rachel."

In spite of myself, I smile at the repetition of our earlier conversation. "I've missed you too."

"I came to see you on Broadway the other month," he admits quietly. "You were brilliant. I mean I know I used to watch you perform all the time in Glee Club but seeing you up there on that stage, I was just…I was balled over by your talent. You definitely belong up there."

My eyes widen a little and I blush at his compliment. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" I question lightly. "Better yet, why didn't you come and see me backstage? I'd have loved to see you."

Finn smiles softly. "It was a flying visit to New York, I came to see Kurt and I had to get to the airport practically straight after your show. I would have come backstage if I had time." He kicks the water with his feet, splashing me in a playful manner. "Next time I come, I most definitely will come backstage."

"You're coming again?" My voice holds an element of surprise.

"Of course, you were unbelievably fantastic up there," he replies. "I'm so proud that you achieved your dreams Rach." He fiddles with his fingers. "I know back in high school, I nearly stopped you from going…"

I had a feeling this topic of discussion would crop us sooner rather than later.

"Finn…"

He holds his hands up to prevent me from speaking further. "I did. When I first met you, you had dreams of being on Broadway and I admired you so much for that. You knew what you wanted; I envied you for it really. I didn't know what I wanted when we first started dating so I was more than happy to follow you," he states. "But when I figured out that I wanted to run a business, that I wanted to take over Burt's tyre shop, I wanted you to feel that need to follow me. I wanted you to put your dreams on hold for mine and I was just being selfish."

"And I wasn't Finn? You said you were more than happy to follow me and I was happy to let you do that. I should have helped you figure out your dreams rather than just thinking about myself."

"It's who you are," he replies and my eyes widen, unsure whether that was an insult or not. "I mean that as a compliment, you're determined, you don't things get in your way and I love you for that."

I gulp at his use of the word love in the present tense rather than the past but it was probably a mistake.

"It may be who I am, but maybe I should have been somebody better."

He shakes his head. "Looking back, I'm glad you didn't stay with me. Because you belong on that stage Rachel."

I blush and gently shove his shoulder. "You don't know how much it means to me, hearing you say that."

Finn gives me a half smile. "Do you have any regrets?"

Now that's a loaded question.

My dads always told me that you shouldn't have any regrets because if you have regrets you're dwelling on the past when you should be focusing on the present.

If I'm honest with myself, I don't think I do have any regrets. But telling him the truth might hurt his feelings.

"Do you?" I ask, sidestepping his question.

He nods. "I regret that I wasn't supportive."

"You were supportive Finn."

He scoffs loudly. "I would hardly have called me a supportive boyfriend Rachel. If I had been supportive, I wouldn't have tried to stop you from going to New York. If I had been supportive, maybe we could have had a long distance relationship. I mean I know we decided that it would be best to start afresh but I never really wanted that."

"Why didn't you say anything?" I ask in surprise. "When I suggested breaking up, you said that you'd been thinking it too. You said it was for the best. Why would you say that if you wanted to try a long distance relationship?"

"Because I knew you didn't want one."

I sigh sadly. "Finn…"

"No I completely understand," he says. "We had different dreams. You have no idea how many times I've wished that we'd had the same dream. How many times I wished I'd have come to New York with you." He pauses and looks nervous for a second. "Do you think if I'd have come with you, we'd still be together?"

I stare at the water awkwardly. When we were in high school, I couldn't imagine my life without Finn. Whenever I thought of the future, I thought of him but if I look back now, I actually can't imagine him being in my life these last seven years.

"I guess we can never know for sure but honestly, I don't think so."

"Why not?"

"You didn't want to go to New York Finn, if you'd have come, eventually you would have resented me."

"I don't think I could ever resent you," Finn states with a soft smile. "Do you resent me?"

"Why would I?"

"I tried to make you stay in Lima, make you stay with me," he explains.

"I don't think I could ever resent you either Finn."

He smiles widely at me and I can tell my answer has lifted a weight from his shoulders. "You don't understand how happy I am to hear that. I'm still sorry though."

I place my hand over his. "Don't be."

He looks down at my hand and what was supposed to be a comforting gesture, is viewed in his eyes as a flirtatious act. He turns his hand over so it's palm upwards and entwines our fingers. "I really have missed you Rachel. You know, I always think about you. How you are, what you're doing, if you're seeing anybody." His voice drops on the final few words.

"Finn…" I start to remove my hand from his.

"What's going on?"

We both turn our heads at the new voice. Quinn is standing behind us, a frown imprinted on her face, her eyes on our enjoined hands.

I quickly pull my hand away from his and stand up. "Quinn, I told you to wait inside."

She looks at me quickly before returning her gaze to Finn. "And I told you I'd come out if I saw something I didn't like and what do you know."

Finn stands up too, his face filled with confusion. "I'm sorry, can I help you?"

Quinn brings her attention back to me. "It's funny that you've been talking to him for nearly half an hour yet you still haven't got around to telling him. Although I must say you looked pretty friendly."

I can't be sure but I think she's jealous. I glance at my watch to see she's right, I hadn't realised how quickly time had flown.

"Rachel, do you want to tell me what's going on? Because I have to admit, I'm really confused." Finn asks, staring at me and ignoring Quinn.

"Yes Rachel, I think that's a great idea. Tell him." Quinn's voice is laced with anger and I do not like it. "Or I will."

"Finn as you already know, this is Quinn." I point out. "But what you don't know is that, she's….she's my girlfriend."

I probably could have done that better.

Finn's face is blank for several minutes and I'm reminded of how Kurt reacted when I introduced Quinn to him as my girlfriend. After several minutes of uncomfortable silence, he speaks, "you're gay?"

"I do not like labels Finn, but if you must label me, I would have to say I'm bisexual, not gay."

"Did you know you were gay when you with me?" He asks. "Was everything you just told me a lie?"

I frown at him, did he not just hear what I said. "I've just said I'm not gay Finn, I'm bisexual. But no, when we were together I didn't realise that I had feelings for women too. When we were together, I only looked at you, only wanted you. Everything I just told you was the truth."

"You can't be dating a girl!" He says and his voice is rising slightly. "You're not bisexual." I'm grateful that he used the right term this time. "Has this got something to do with Santana and Brittany?"

My eyes furrow at his comment. "No, why would it?"

"Brittany thinks everybody has the ability to be fluid with their sexuality, that doesn't mean you have to be."

Quinn scoffs loudly beside me at his absurd accusation. "I realised I was bisexual after sleeping with a woman Finn, not because Brittany put the idea into my head. What, do you think I looked at Santana and Brittany one day and thought that looks fun, I think I'm going to start dating women now." He buries his head in his hand and I bring my hand to my forehead in an attempt to calm myself down. "I know this must come as a massive surprise but…"

"And you're dating her?" He asks as his eyes scan Quinn in a disapproving manner.

"Quinn," I state. "I'm dating Quinn and I would prefer it if you referred to her by her name in future. It's courteous if nothing else."

His persona is changing rapidly and Quinn and I can both tell he is getting angrier. "No, this must be some sort of joke. You can't be gay."

"Bisexual." This time it's Quinn who corrects him and frustration laces her voice.

He takes a step closer to me but Quinn steps in between us, blocking him. "I don't think so. That's close enough."

Finn clenches his jaw at Quinn and although I know he would never hurt me, I can't positively say the same thing for Quinn. Instinctively my hand finds hers and I tug her gently back towards me. Finn notices the gesture and if possible, his jaw clenches even tighter.

"I can't even look at you." His voice holds bitterness and he throws his arms into the air in frustration before walking back towards the house.

Quinn turns to face me once he's back inside. "Are you okay?"

I nod slowly even though I don't think I am. Maybe I was just being naïve but I thought he would have taken the news in a better way, I didn't think he'd be that upset by it. One thing I've never wanted to do is hurt Finn and now that I have, my eyes fill with tears.

Quinn notices straight away and pulls me into her, her hand coming to rest on the back of my head, soothing stroking my hair. "Ssh," she whispers the word into my ear trying to lull me into a sense of relaxation. "It'll be okay," she whispers this time whilst I cry softly into her shoulder. I most certainly didn't expect to shed tears over Finn but his reaction had not been what I wanted at all.

I keep expecting Quinn to step away from me but she doesn't let go of her hold on me, if anything she holds me tighter. I don't know how long we stay like that but it occurs to me that I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Eventually my tears subside and it surprises me that I'm the first one to break away from the embrace, although Quinn quickly entwines our fingers.

"Do you want to go upstairs?" Quinn asks quietly. I don't answer but I don't need to. She can tell by my facial expression that I do. She cups my face in her hands delicately as if I'm about to break, wiping away the wetness which coats my cheeks. "If you're lucky, I'll even be the big spoon." She smiles widely and I can't help but laugh.

* * *

><p>We've been lying on our bed for about twenty minutes now; the only sound that can be heard is our shallow breaths. As soon as I curled up on the bed, Quinn followed suit, her knees tucking in behind mine and her hand comes to rest around my stomach protectively, tugging me impossibly closer to her.<p>

I can't help but wonder what it would be like to fall asleep in her arms, to wake up in her arms.

"I'm sorry for this; I didn't expect to be as upset as I am." I speak for the first time since we'd retreated to our bedroom.

Quinn admonishes me softly, placing a small kiss behind my ear. My eyes involuntarily close at the contact; it's almost as if she knows being kissed in my favourite spot will soothe me. "It's fine."

"I don't understand why I cried though."

"He was your first love," Quinn states. "You always expect the people you love to be there for you, you always expect them to support you no matter what, so when they don't, it hurts all that much more."

As much as I want to see her face when we talk, I'm much too comfortable to move.

"What if he hates me?"

She buries her head into the back of my neck and I feel rather than hear her sigh heavily before I hear her head connect with the pillow. "I'm sure he doesn't and if he does, then he really isn't worth your time."

"He wasn't just my ex-boyfriend Quinn; he used to be my best friend."

"A best friend who you haven't spoken to in seven years. Yeah Rachel, that's some friendship." She sounds frustrated with this conversation. "All I'm saying is, if he can't support you, then he doesn't deserve your friendship. I mean everybody else is just fine with the news."

"I never dated anybody else from our group," I state. "I know you probably don't want to hear about this, hell I'm sure you don't even care but I don't want him to hate me Quinn. Can you at least understand that?"

"Yeah I can." She tells me to roll over and I do as she asks. Her hand settles on my hip as she kisses my forehead "I know what it's like to come out to people and not get a good reaction. And trust me when I say that I've received worse reactions than that." She squeezes my hip gently. "I'm sure when he gets over the initial shock, he'll calm down and everything will be okay. His ego is probably a little bruised but he'll get over it."

"You really think so?"

She nods. "Just give him some time, let him get used to the idea before you talk to him again. I don't want him upsetting you for a second time."

I smile softly at her. "I'm just being silly."

"You're not," she replies. "As much as I wish you weren't, I understand why you are upset. And you have every right to be." She kisses my forehead again and her lips linger there for a few seconds. "Are you okay?"

"I'll survive," I joke before turning serious. "Thank you for this."

She laughs as she lies down properly. "I haven't really done anything Rachel."

"You were there for me when I needed you," I clarify. "What more can I ask for?"

She doesn't respond instead I change my position so my head is against her chest and we fall into a comfortable silence. I can hear her heart beating and in this moment, I feel closer to Quinn than ever before. Ignoring the obvious physical closeness, just being with her, like this makes us closer.

At least in my eyes.

It's almost as if everything between us is natural. Like we've been doing it for years.

The way her fingers trail up and down my arm in a slow, repetitive movement. The way her breathing quickens when I move, almost as if she's worried I'm about to pull away from her. The way her arms tighten around me, just to bring me nearer to her.

These are the moments I enjoy the most with Quinn.

When we're not pretending, when we're not friends with benefits, when we're just us.

Our perfect moment is interrupted by Santana. "I don't want to hear you two at it again tonight!" She shouts the words through our closed door before I hear her own bedroom door slamming shut.

Quinn and I both laugh at her comment. Quinn's fingers trail the hem of my dress, hiking it up ever so slightly. "I think that sounds like a challenge, don't you?"

She rolls us over and kisses my collarbone before placing feather like kisses on my neck.

"Well I've never been known to back down from a challenge," I reply and I can feel her smile into the crook of my neck.

She pulls away ever so slightly, smiling lazily at me before she captures my lips with hers. Her tongue teases my lower lip, pleading for entry which I gladly give. I release a guttural moan as her tongue connects with mine. I notice that for once she doesn't taste like cigarettes. She pins my hands down, holding them in place with her left hand.

Unsurprisingly, she is in control

Her right hand slowly moves up my thigh coming to rest just underneath my dress whilst she returns to kissing my neck. I close my eyes at the feeling of her lips against my neck. She always knows how to send me into a frenzy.

There's a quiet knock at our bedroom door.

"Ignore it," Quinn whispers the words in my ear but I know that it's an order. She sits up so she's straddling my thighs and grabs the hem of her top, throwing it off and onto the floor.

My eyes rake hungrily over her bra-cladded chest and my mouth goes dry at the sight of her toned body.

No matter how many times I see her, I'm still in awe at her beauty every time.

Somebody knocks at our door once more, only this time louder.

My eyes find Quinn's and I can tell she knows that I want to answer it. "Don't even think about it. It's probably just Santana wanting to repeat her earlier statement to our faces." I nod as her voice holds a certain level of authority that I don't want to disagree with. She fists the bottom of my dress and I'm waiting for her to rid me of it. "Take this off."

Her voice is softer than I'm used to and it surprises me.

Normally Quinn has to be in control, it's almost as if she doesn't know how to surrender that control. But now she's letting that slip a little bit. In the past, she's had a tendency to rip my clothes in her frantic haste to remove them but now that haste is non-existent. The look in her eyes tells me that she wants to savour each moment rather than rush.

"Rachel?"

Quinn freezes at the voice and any softness which her face previously contained disappears. "What does he want?"

"How am I supposed to know Quinn, you haven't let me open the door."

Her eyes bore into mine, clearly not amused by my answer and her hold on my hands doesn't loosen. "You're not answering it."

I scoff, fully aware that Finn can probably hear this conversation. I try to get out from underneath her but she doesn't relent. "Quinn, let go of my hands."

"Why?" She questions loudly. "So you can go and talk to him only to have him upset you again. Are you forgetting that not too long ago you were crying because of him?" I can't understand why she is getting so worked up about this.

"For all you know he might have come to apologise," I tell her, her grip on my hands tightens somewhat and coupled with her intense stare, this entire situation is becoming a tad uncomfortable. "Quinn, please."

Any trace of anger disappears from her eyes in an instant at my delicate tone. Instead she looks at me with concern. She releases her hold on my hands immediately and looks completely apologetic although she doesn't voice these apologies. She merely climbs off the bed, grabbing her top from the floor and throwing it on. She glances at me briefly before opening the door, shoving past Finn on her way out.

I know that Quinn has a certain level of issues that we haven't addressed yet and I'm fully aware that her mood can change dramatically in a matter of seconds but seeing her just then was something new. She seemed angry, worried and scared all at the same time and I have no idea why. Any progress we make to become an actual couple, to feeling comfortable with one another seems to be ruined by her erratic behaviour.

Finn coughs awkwardly from the doorway and momentarily I had forgotten he was there. I was too preoccupied thinking about Quinn. I stand and walk over to him, smoothing my dress down in the process. "Is everything okay?" He questions and I can smell alcohol on his breath.

"Honestly I don't really know what's just happened."

"What about you? Are you okay?"

I nod. "Is there something you wanted Finn?"

He scuffs his feet against the carpet. "Do you think we could maybe go for a walk?"

I glance at my alarm clock to see it's nearly midnight. "It's late Finn; can this not wait until tomorrow?"

"It's important Rachel, please."

His eyes are pleading with me and even though I should probably go look for Quinn, I haven't the heart to turn him down. After all, he used to be my best friend and there's a chance that this conversation will erase our earlier one. Besides, it's probably better if Quinn has time to cool off. "Okay, but can we make it quick? After our earlier conversation I don't know how much more disdain I can take from you."

I shut the door behind me and we make our way downstairs towards the living room in silence. Upon entry, he immediately heads towards Kurt and Blaine's liquor cabinet whilst I sit down on the sofa. "Do you want something?"

"No, I'm fine thank you." He shrugs his shoulder and pours himself a drink. "Don't you think you've maybe had enough?"

He downs his whisky in one go, his face grimacing as he swallows the liquid. "I found out just over an hour ago that you have a girlfriend, I think I'm allowed a couple of drinks to take the edge off."

"I didn't think you'd be as upset as you are," I admit. "I mean we haven't been together since we were 18, that was seven years ago Finn. We haven't even spoken since our break up. I thought we were friends."

"We are friends," he replies calmly.

"What you said earlier hurt me Finn. I didn't want to hurt you and I'm sorry if I did but there was no need for you to question my feelings for you."

"I know." He ducks his head down. "It just came as a shock. It put a spanner in the works."

"What do you mean?"

He raises his head and stares at me. "You have no idea how hard you are to get over Rachel."

"Wait…were you under the illusion that this week would bring us back together?" I question and the look on his face gives me my answer.

"I thought maybe I'd have a shot. I mean nobody knew that you were dating anybody and Kurt didn't tell me that you were gay…"

"Bi-sexual," I correct. "Although you really need to stop labelling me," I mutter under my breath, considerably annoyed at his lack of understanding.

"Right, sorry. It's a lot to take in," he replies, giving me his signature dopey expression.

Seven years ago, I'd have melted at that look.

"Finn, you're a great guy and I love you but I'm not in love with you," I tell him. "I haven't been since senior year. And just in case you have any doubts still, I was in love with you when we dated. Even if I had known about my sexuality back then, it wouldn't have changed the fact that I was in love with you."

He sits beside me on the sofa. "I didn't mean to react as badly as I did earlier. I'm sorry."

"Why did you then?"

"I don't know, shock I guess," he suggests. "I'm really sorry, it's just…ever since we broke up, I've always hoped for a second chance with you and I thought that after this week that hope could have become a reality." He rubs the back of his neck nervously. "I guess finding out that you had a girlfriend just solidified the fact that we were over and I was never getting you back. I think that's maybe why I reacted as badly as I did, not so much the fact that you had a girlfriend, more the fact that I didn't have a shot."

"Finn…"

He gives me a lop-sided smile. "I guess I was just being stupid. I mean you're a famous Broadway actress, not to mention gorgeous. You can have anybody you want."

I can't help but notice that he called me gorgeous whereas Quinn has called me beautiful.

"That's lovely of you to say Finn…"

"I mean it." His eyes are slightly glazed over and I can tell the alcohol he has previously drunk is beginning to affect him more and more. He shuffles a little closer to me and my breathing quickens with nerves. "I always knew that you could do so much better than me, that you deserved better than me."

"Don't put yourself down Finn."

"It's true…"

"No it's not, when we were together, you have no idea how happy I was Finn, how happy you made me," I explain. "I used to think I didn't deserve you."

"Really?"

I stare at him blankly. "Of course, you were captain of the football team and I was, for lack of a better word, a loser. I used to stare at the Cheerios and wonder why you didn't pick them. I could never understand why you picked me over them."

"Because I loved you," he replies. "You were the love of my life Rachel; nobody else holds a candle to you."

I wish I could say the same.

But I can't.

Finn gives me a small smile before leaning closer to me. I can feel his breath on my lips and his eyes close. I place my hand against his chest as he tries to kiss me, pushing him away more forcefully than I wanted. His eyes open and recognition passes over his face

"Rachel, I'm sorry. I don't know why I just did that."

"I'm going to bed Finn; I think you need to do the same. Go to sleep and sober up. We'll talk again in the morning." He nods submissively and apologises once more.

I walk away from him, heading back upstairs towards mine and Quinn's bedroom. When I enter the room, I call Quinn's name but she doesn't respond. I take a seat on the foot of the bed and wait impatiently for her to return. I tell myself that she's most likely gone for a cigarette or two to calm down but I can't be sure. I tap my fingers against my thighs before heading to the bathroom to get ready for bed rather than just sitting and waiting for Quinn like a devoted wife.

I throw my pyjamas on quicker than normal and rid myself of my makeup. I'm fully aware that tonight my evening routine will not be completed. I brush my teeth thoroughly before spitting the toothpaste into the sink.

The bedroom door opens as I leave the bathroom and Quinn's eyes find mine straight away. "Rachel." She breathes out my name like she's been desperate to say it since she left. She walks towards me and winches when she looks down at my wrists to see that they marginally red.

I hadn't even noticed.

"I am so sorry for that." It looks like she's about to cry and her face is filled with worry. "Did I hurt you?"

"No Quinn, you didn't."

"Are you sure?" She fingers my wrist softly. "It's red."

I bring her fingers away from my wrist and entwine them with mine. "Yes I'm sure Quinn, there's no need to get upset about it. I hadn't even noticed until you'd pointed it out."

She sniffs. "I just…I never want to hurt you."

I cup her cheek softly, forcing her to look at me. "Well it's a good job you haven't then." I give her a small smile and she returns it after several minutes. "Can I ask you something?" She nods slowly. "Why were you so adamant that I shouldn't open the door?"

She closes her eyes and breathes heavily, clearly unhappy with the question. "I told you, I didn't want you talking to him. I didn't want him upsetting you again."

"But you said that I should talk to him again."

"Yeah I meant tomorrow or later on in the week, after the dust had settled, I didn't want you to just jump straight out of bed and go talk to him."

"I'm sure the conversation would have still been the same whenever we had it, it was better to get it over and done with. Clear the air so to speak."

She pinches the bridge of her nose. "Must we talk about him?"

"Okay," I concede. "We won't talk about him."

A silence falls over us but unlike earlier, this one isn't comfortable.

It's awkward.

I'm heading towards our bed when Quinn's hoarse voice breaks the silence. "What did he want?"

"I thought you didn't want to talk about him," I reply in a slightly childish manner and Quinn gives me a deathly stare, effectively telling me to answer the question. "It's not important. I don't know why you're letting this situation annoy you so much but clearly anything I tell you is just going to make your mood worse."

"Don't play the martyr Rachel. Tell me."

I sigh heavily. "He apologised for the way he reacted earlier and said that he only reacted the way he did because he thought this week could possible rekindle our old relationship and finding out about you was the final nail in the coffin," I explain and she is listening intently. I deliberate over whether or not I should tell her the next part.

"What aren't you telling me?" She asks. "I could smell alcohol on him as I passed him. He didn't do anything to upset you again, did he?"

Despite seeming angry at the whole situation, when questioning whether or not I'm okay, her voice softens.

"No."

"Come on Rachel, I know there's something you're not telling me," she says. "You can't look me in the eye so I know you're hiding something.

"He…" I look her directly in the eyes, intrigued as to what her reaction will be. "He tried to kiss me."

"He what?" Her voice is steady but somehow, that makes it more threatening.

"Quinn he was drunk, he didn't mean it, he apologised straight away and he'll regret it in the morning."

"I don't care if he was drunk; he had no right to try that." She spins around and heads to the door.

"Where are you going?" I ask worriedly.

"To find Finn, he can't try to kiss you and get away with it."

I run towards the door, overtaking her and slamming it shut when she tries to open it. "Don't even think about it Quinn. There's no need to make this into a big issue."

She steps back and her face scrunches up in thought. "Why don't you want me to go?"

"Because it's late and you'll no doubt wake everybody else up, because there's no need to go, because you'll just make things worse," I respond. "Choose one of the above options."

She's silent for several moments before a flash of curiosity passes over her face. "Did you give him any encouragement?"

My eyes widen at her question. "No of course not! Why would you even think that Quinn?"

Quinn begins to pace. "He was your first boyfriend, your first love so you must still care for him. You saw him today for the first time in years; I wouldn't be surprised if old feelings resurfaced."

"Yes he was my first boyfriend, yes he was my first love and yes I still care for him. But my feelings towards him are strictly platonic, I do not harbour any romantic feelings for Finn, not anymore," I reply, angry at her lack of belief in me. "You have no right to accuse me of that. When you asked me if I wanted to make him jealous, I said no because I don't have feelings for him. If I don't have feelings for him why would I give him encouragement to kiss me?"

"So it's just a coincidence that the second time he comes to talk to you, he tries to kiss you?"

"You are being ridiculous." I shake my head in frustration and walk away from her. "He came to talk to me because he wanted to apologise for the way he reacted earlier. And I have to say that he wouldn't have reacted that way if you hadn't stormed out and made me tell him in the way I did. If you'd have let me do what I wanted, then he probably would have reacted better. But no, you had to come out and act like the big I am."

"Well I am your girlfriend and I didn't like how close you two were getting. You were holding hands Rachel." Her voice is slightly raised and I think Santana and Brittany will be hearing us for a different reason tonight.

"It was meant to be a friendly gesture but he took it the wrong way. I tried to undo it as soon as I realised. And you're only pretending to be my girlfriend Quinn; you're not actually my girlfriend."

As soon as the words leave my mouth I regret them. We'd ignored that fact for the past two days and acted as if what we had was real. Hell only several hours ago I realised I liked her. I would actually be proud to call her my girlfriend; I shouldn't have thrown the fact that what we're doing is just pretend.

Quinn stops pacing at my words. "Oh I get it. When I'm playing the perfect girlfriend in front of everybody else, that's okay. But if I do something you don't like, you make it known that this is all pretend. You certainly know how to put me back in my place Rachel," she says angrily. "Let's not forget that I'm doing you a favour here. I didn't have to come here this week."

"Why did you then?"

"Because you asked me to!" She shouts loudly.

"Maybe I shouldn't have," I shout back at her.

Quinn laughs in a cold manner. "I didn't exactly see people lining up for you."

Her laugh was somewhat callous and although I want to mimic her actions, I can't. That last statement hurt. "I suppose you have people queuing up for you? I don't even know you and I can tell you're fucked up Quinn. It's always one step forwards, two steps backwards with you isn't it? Just when I think we're making progress, you go and lose your temper over something this stupid."

Her eyes darken and they hold ferocity. I have to admit that I'm a little frightened. "You're right, you don't know me! If you did you'd know that I'm not desperate enough to ask somebody to pretend to be my girlfriend," she says harshly.

My face drops and I can feel tears brimming in my eyes. "You know you can criticise Finn all you want but at least he never made me feel pathetic."

I don't know whether it's the way I say it, whether Quinn can hear the hurt in my voice or whether she can see the tears in my eyes but Quinn's face softens at my statement and I can tell she regrets what she just said.

"I didn't mean that. I'm sorry." She's no longer shouting. If anything her voice has dropped several octaves to no more than a whisper.

"Save your breath Quinn," I reply heading towards the bed. "As you so rightly stated, you're doing me a favour but maybe we should just agree to end it because clearly it's not working for either of us. So why don't you just go."

Quinn stays where she is. "I don't want to go. Listen Rachel, I say things I don't mean when I lose my temper. Don't pay any attention to it."

I climb into bed. "Get out Quinn." I roll over to face the bathroom so I can't see her anymore. I don't want her to see how upset I am. She doesn't move for several minutes and I'm not sure if she actually plans to listen to me and leave.

"Rae," she pleads and it's the first time she's called me something so simple yet so intimate at the same time.

"Please just leave me alone." My voice breaks as I speak and I'm sure she can tell that I'm trying hard not to cry even though she can't see me

Only seconds later I hear the door open and close. I glance over my shoulder to make sure that she has left and the tears which have been threatening to fall begin to descend.

Hours ago I accepted that I liked Quinn and I had been thinking that after this week, our relationship might progress into girlfriend territory. I had been too busy thinking about my feelings that I didn't think about Quinn's.

How can we be girlfriends if we don't even truly know one another? We've just had our first fight and even though I told her to leave, I just want her to come back and cuddle with me. I want her to tell me that everything will be okay but I know that's not going to happen.

For all I know, she could take my words to heart and not be here in the morning.

That thought alone seems to make the tears come faster.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: These characters belong to the creators of Glee, I own nothing. If I did, Faberry would most definitely be a couple.

Authors Note: Thank you all once again :) This chapter and the next couple will be in Quinn's point of view so you finally get a little insight into her mind. As for admitting their feelings, Quinn makes head way in this chapter. Hope you enjoy and as usual all mistakes are mine!

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><p><strong>Chapter 8<strong>**:**

I yell into my hands through frustration as I stand on the empty patio. I glance at my watch to see it's a little after 1am. Everybody else will be fast asleep, not knowing that Rachel and I have had an argument, one which makes me question everything about our relationship. Things were supposed to be simple so when did they get so complicated? I knew this would happen. I knew that when I agreed to come here this week that things would change between the two of us.

I knew that but I still came anyway because I can't say no to Rachel.

One minute I'm enjoying just being with her, cuddling her and then I'm starting an argument with her. I don't cuddle, that's not the kind of person I am but when I saw that Rachel was upset, all I wanted to do was comfort her.

Protect her.

It's ironic how even though I comforted her after her argument with Finn, I ended up upsetting her perhaps even more that Finn had.

Guilt surges through my body at the thought of Rachel being upset because of me.

My breathing is rapid and laboured and I need to calm down. I should not have said what I said to her. She said that she didn't give him any encouragement and I should have believed her, I shouldn't have questioned her any further. I should have left well enough alone. I breathe in the fresh air and it's only then that I notice my hands are shaking.

I knew I was angry but I hadn't realised how angry I was.

Angry at myself.

Angry at Finn for causing problems.

Even though what Rachel said to me hurt, I'm not angry at her in the slightest.

I take a cigarette out of my pocket and attempt to light it. Rachel asked me once why I smoked and I told her I needed them to keep me sane and it is times like now that I need to be kept sane. I keep replaying our conversation over and over again in my head. Igniting my lighter is proving to be reasonably difficult considering I cannot keep my hands under control. I close my eyes to take a deep breath but all I can think of is Rachel.

How upset she was.

How upset I made her.

"Fuck." I throw the lighter to the ground, hearing it smash before throwing the cigarette away too.

I run my fingers through my hair in a hurried fashion. It's amazing how quickly things can go from good to bad.

"I hope you're going to clean that up."

I turn my head at the voice to see Santana staring at me, dressed in pyjamas and eyebrows raised. "If you're so concerned about it, why don't you clean it up?"

"Forget this." She throws her hands up into the air clearly annoyed at my response before disappearing back into the house. I can hear the faint sound of a conversation and can just about make out the sound of Brittany's voice. It only takes a few seconds before Santana is pushed back into view. She sends a small glare to her girlfriend before walking towards me. She doesn't stop when she reaches me however and heads towards the bottom of the garden, beckoning me to follow her. I contemplate going inside and leaving her alone but my feet start walking towards her before I can stop them. She stops at the end of the garden and turns to face me, hands on her hips. "Right, as you can tell from my appearance, I've just woken up and I would really like to go back to bed so I'll make this quick. Brittany thought I should talk to you because clearly something is wrong and even though I said no, she did those damn puppy dog eyes that I can't resist so now I'm here. So talk."

"I've got nothing to say to you."

She exhales heavily and her face holds a mixture of annoyance and boredom. "I told her that you wouldn't tell me anything but for some reason she thinks that you will talk to me more than anybody else."

"Why does she think that?"

"I don't know. Brittany may not come off as the smartest person but she's intuitive so if she thinks that I'll be able to get you to talk, then I will at least try because I can't say no to Britt." I smile shyly, understanding what Santana means. If Rachel told me to do something, I would do it for her. I mean she told me to leave and I did, even though it was the last thing I wanted to do. "You saw what happened when I tried to leave so until I get you to talk to me; I'm not going to be allowed to go back to bed. Now I know you don't want to talk and honestly, I don't care what's wrong but Brittany does, so do us both a favour and start talking, preferably quickly." She rubs her hand on the back of her neck before sitting down on the bench which is situated a small flowerbed.

"Your compassion is heartfelt Santana," I reply sardonically. "I mean I can really feel that you care and it just makes me want to open up to you!"

"You can cut the sarcasm because I don't want to be here anymore than you."

I close my eyes briefly before opening them again. "Why don't you just go back to Brittany and tell her you talked to me and I told you what was wrong. Then we can both avoid this uncomfortable conversation."

Santana shakes her head. "Britt can read me like a book, she'll know I'm lying and will just send me back out. That or she'll come out to talk to you and believe you me, when Brittany gets started, you can't get away. She'll have you opening up to her and telling her all your sordid secrets. I won't do that; just tell me why you're furious and standing outside when you should be asleep with the hobbit."

"I told you not to insult her," I warn quietly.

"I guess I forgot."

I roll my eyes knowing that as close to an apology as I'm going to get. "How did you even know I was down here?"

"I was fast asleep enjoying a great dream when Britt woke me. I thought it might be because she wanted some sweet lady kisses but she said she was worried about you two because she'd heard raised voices," she explains and my heart drops at the thought that they heard what we were saying. I know that if they find out about our pretence, Rachel will be devastated. "I told her to ignore it because of how loud you were last night but then I heard you shouting."

"What did you hear?"

She shrugs her shoulders. "Nothing really, everything was too muffled." I sigh in relief that she didn't hear the topic of our conversation. "I wanted to go to your door and listen in but Britt wouldn't let me, said it was too nosey. Since she didn't want me to listen, I said we should ignore it and go back to sleep," she states, running her hand through her hair. "Then we heard the door go and Brittany insisted we go and see if you were okay."

"How did you know I was the one that left if you didn't hear anything?"

Santana laughs loudly. "If it had been Rachel that left, she would have slammed the door and stormed away in a far more dramatic manner." She taps her fingers against her thighs impatiently. "So are you going to tell me what happened or are we going to stay out here all night?"

I sigh and take a seat on the bench beside her. "We had an argument."

"No shit Sherlock, I meant what was it about?"

I deliberate for a second. We had argued because of Finn trying to kiss her but then it just seemed to spiral out of control and we both hurt one another. I should never have said what I did to her but the fact that she called me fucked up hurt.

I had just started to feel comfortable enough to tell her about my past and then she goes and says something like that.

Of course, I shouldn't have hurt her just because she hurt me.

"On the surface, Finn."

"And under the surface, jealousy?" She suggests and I duck my head down.

"I have no right to be jealous of him."

She scoffs loudly. "Now, I've never been Finnocence's biggest fan and I certainly didn't want Rachel to end up with him so I'm glad they split but he is your girlfriend's ex, I think you have the right to be jealous."

I shake my head. "I don't."

I can feel her staring at me almost as if she's trying to figure me out. She leans back against the bench and exhales softly. "You know Artie?" I nod my head at her question, mentally visualising the man. "He used to date Brittany back in High School. Before we became a couple, we used to be friends with benefits." My ears prick up at her admission. Rachel never told me that Brittany and Santana's relationship started like ours has. Deep down it gives me hope that maybe in the future, Rachel and I could be as happy as Brittany and Santana are. "She always wanted more than that agreement but I couldn't accept who I was so I couldn't give her what she wanted. She started dating Artie whilst I kept fighting with the fact that not only was I gay but I was also in love with her." She looks over her shoulder to make sure Brittany isn't nearby. "Even though they split up and after I finally learnt to deal with who I am, we became a couple, I'm still jealous of Artie."

"Why?" I question. "You and Brittany are together, you're happy and he's not after her. What reason have you got to be jealous?"

"I'm not jealous of him because I think he's going to try and get back with her. I'm jealous that he got to spend time with her when I was being too stupid to realise what I wanted. I'm jealous that he was there for her when I wasn't," she replies. "I mean, we have most of the past, the present and the future but a small part of her past is shared with somebody that wasn't me and to know that that only happened because of me makes me hate it even more."

"Finn tried to kiss her," I tell her. "I just saw red and even though she did nothing wrong, I just accused her. I was angry with him but I took it out on her."

"I used to be angry with myself and took it out on anybody around," Santana says, understandingly. "Brittany bore the brunt of my anger quite a lot and I hate myself for lashing out at her but it's easier to lash out at those closest to you than accept your own issues."

I never thought that Santana would understand my situation, it's making me realise that we're surprisingly similar in some aspects.

"I'm jealous."

Santana nods at my statement. "Yeah and you didn't want to admit that, so you picked a fight with her."

I pinch the bridge of my nose with my fingers. "I never wanted to date Rachel," I admit and she looks at me with a shocked expression. Part of me thinks that I shouldn't have told her that but she had been honest with me about Artie and I sense that isn't something she tells everybody. "I just wanted the same thing I had with other girls, sex and no commitment."

"Hold up, you told us you wooed her?"

"I lied," I confess and her eyes widen even more. "When I said we met and had sex, I was telling the truth, I lied to you because I knew she wouldn't want everybody to know the true story."

"I didn't know Berry had it in her," Santana sounds oddly impressed.

"Rachel, not Berry."

Santana holds her hands up in surrender. "This time I'm not insulting her; I've just always called her Berry. I could be calling her worse things."

"Don't even think about it."

She smirks at me. "So if you just wanted sex, what changed?"

"I couldn't stay away from her," I'm surprising myself with how honest I'm being with somebody I don't even know. "I always found myself coming back to her and what was supposed to be a one-time thing happened again and again and I liked it. I liked being with her."

"You sound surprised," Santana points out. "I mean I know I poke fun at her but Brittany's right, I like her. I mean I couldn't be in a relationship with her because she would drive me round the twist but I can understand why somebody would want to be her, she's innocent, sweet and lovely. But don't you dare tell her I said that because I will deny it relentlessly."

"I'm pretty sure Rachel knows that you like her really."

Santana shrugs her shoulders. "I'd rather live in blissful ignorance and pretend she doesn't." She glances over her shoulder once more to see whether Brittany has decided to come into the garden but there is no sign of her. "What was so special about Berry that made you want a relationship with her rather than just sex?"

"She's everything I'm not and so much more." I smile at the thought of the brunette.

Santana retches in a playful manner. "You really need to stop being so adorable around her."

"She brings it out of me," I state, more to myself than her.

I glance back at the house wondering whether Rachel is okay. When I left the room, I could hear her start crying louder; almost as if she had been waiting for me to leave so she could cry without me knowing. I wanted nothing more than to walk back in and cuddle her. I wanted to apologise and tell her that everything would be okay. But I'm not sure whether Rachel would have wanted that.

Rachel probably thought that this week would turn us into friends but the truth is, I've always considered her to be my friend.

Although we never really talked and we never really did anything other than sleep together, I have a bond with her that I don't have with anybody else. I really do consider her my friend.

But I've always wanted something more.

The first time I saw her, I knew that she was different from any other girl I've picked up in a bar. I don't know whether it was the way she sat absentmindedly singing along to the jukebox or the way she didn't care if her singing was annoying fellow customers but I had to get to know her. I was instantly enamoured by her and I thought that if I slept with her, that feeling would go away.

But it didn't.

I never planned for it to go further than a one-night stand but I think I was kidding myself to think that it wouldn't go further. I liked her. No, I like her.

A lot.

She makes me a better person and she doesn't even realise that she's doing it. When she asked me to come to the wedding, I didn't want to come but not because of the reasons I told her. It's true that I don't do relationships and I'm not a fan of weddings but the real reason I didn't want to come was because I wasn't I'd be able to contain my feelings for her.

I struggle to do it after one night with her let alone an entire week.

I'm not blind; I know that my personality frustrates her. One minute I'm really sweet with her and the next I'm pushing her away. But I don't know how else to act because the effect she has on me scares me.

Nobody has ever had that effect on me before.

I think Monday night was my crystallising moment. It sounds sappy and romantic but I think that was the first time that we didn't just had sex, we made love. I wondered why it had been so much better than any other time and now I know. In the past, whenever we've had sex, it has been rushed and hurried. It has just been sex with no feelings and that is all because if we introduced feelings then everything changed.

But Monday night, everything slowed down and for me at least, we made love.

That scared me because I have never done that with somebody before. Usually for me sex is just an act to pass the time; I mean sure I enjoy it but I've never experienced that connection with somebody before.

When I looked into her eyes, everything just felt right.

I didn't want that moment to end.

When she rolled away from me to sleep, I wanted to wrap my arm around her waist and cuddle her. I wanted to keep her safe whilst she slept. My arm had actually hovered over her waist for several seconds before I decided not to do it, I didn't want to overstep any boundaries that she may have. We agreed that in public we would be girlfriends, but in private we would be nothing more than friends with benefits.

The only problem is, the line between friends with benefits and girlfriends has become blurred to the point that I can't see it anymore. I want to act the same way with her in private as I do in public

But I don't know how she feels, for all I know; this week is just pretend for her. Sometimes when she looks at me or the way she acts around me I think that this week is just as real for her as it for me but I'm scared to confront that issue.

And I'm not putting myself out there just to be rejected.

So I pushed myself away from her once more and slept on the sofa. Although slept would be an exaggeration, I lay awake most of the night.

Thinking about her.

I don't think she realised that I knew she was awake as well. I had my back to the bed but I could hear from her breathing that she wasn't asleep.

It was slightly comforting to know that whilst I lay awake, she was doing the same. It may seem strange but it was comforting to know that when I lay beside her, she slept but when I left, she couldn't fall back asleep.

Almost as if she needed me.

"I hurt her Santana."

I must have been silent for quite some time because she jumps at my voice before her eyes narrow. "I hope you don't mean physically because if you did…"

"No!" I shout quickly. "I said something which I shouldn't have and upset her. I could actually see from her face how much I had hurt her."

"Did you say something to hurt you?" I nod my head at her question. "Everybody says things that they don't mean in arguments, neither of you should take it to heart and you should both just give it time to blow over. I'm sure everything will be fine in the morning."

I scoff quietly. "She told me to leave."

It's Santana's time to scoff. "Please that is nothing, if I had a dollar for every time Brittany's told me to leave after we've argued, I'd be rich. She never means it, she just needs a little bit of space and usually I need that space too."

"No, you don't understand. She told me to go back home Santana, I'm not talking about leaving the bedroom and giving her a bit of time."

Santana's face softens. "What did you say to get that reaction?" She waits several seconds before realising that I'm not going to answer that question. "Judging by the fact that you're still here, I take it you're ignoring what she said."

"I want to but maybe I should just listen to her and leave," I state.

"Do you love her?" My head snaps up at her question and my mouth opens in shock but no words are formed. "I'm going to take that a yes. In that case you can't leave. Just give her space tonight and then apologise again in the morning and talk things over. Berry doesn't hold grudges, I mean, I should know better than anybody. I've been awful to her in the past and she still tolerates me."

Truthfully I don't really pay attention to the end of Santana's sentence because I'm too busy reeling from the first part. I can't be in love with her. I mean I know that I really like her but love; I don't even know what being in love would feel like.

I've never met anybody that I could ever see myself falling in love with.

Until Rachel.

I mean the fact that she's upset right now is killing me, the fact that it's my fault is killing me even more. I turn to look at Santana and remember what she said about Artie and Brittany. The fact that Brittany shared things with somebody other than her had made her jealous and maybe that's why I got so angry over Finn. Not because I was worried that she encouraged him but because he has all these memories with her, memories that I'll never have.

And I want to have memories with her.

I sigh quietly before closing my eyes. I can't be in love with her, I mean, I don't do relationships, I just do one night stands, but of course Rachel is the exception to that rule, so maybe she'll be the exception to all my other rules. But she is so irrefutably perfect that she deserves somebody better than me as a girlfriend.

But maybe the fact that I'm thinking about what she deserves means I do love her.

This was not supposed to happen.

"How did you know you loved Brittany?" I ask quietly, embarrassed at my own question.

Santana smiles warmly at my question. "I just knew." I sigh because that didn't really answer my question and I think Santana can sense that. "I didn't want to be apart from her, the thought of her being with somebody else made me feel sick and I could never think about my future without seeing her in it."

"I've never been in love before," I admit quietly but she doesn't seem surprised by my answer.

"Brittany is the only person I've ever been in love with," she replies. "Quinn?" I hum in response to her question. "I think the fact that you asked the question gives you the answer you were looking for."

I nod slowly at her statement because she's right.

She places her hand on my shoulder in a friendly gesture. "Come on amiga, you can't stay out here all night. I've already been out here far longer than I wanted." Her voice holds playfulness and I can tell that although neither of us wanted the conversation, we're both glad that we had it. "You can sleep in mine and Britt's room."

She stands up and gestures for me to do the same.

I laugh softly to myself as I follow her as she walks towards the house. "Amiga? Does that mean we're friends now?"

She gives me a half smile. "I wouldn't go as far as saying we're friends but I don't hate you so it's progress. Plus that's better than most people I meet. Besides, I kind of respect you for standing up to me over Rachel. I mean Finn used to tell me to back off but you, you made me." She stops and stares at me intensely. "I know you used Brittany as a means to make me stop insulting Rachel but I meant what I said, if you ever do that, I won't be responsible for my actions."

"I know."

"I'm glad we've got that out of the way." She nods in satisfaction before walking towards the patio door.

Brittany appears from the living room as soon as we enter the house. "I was beginning to think you two weren't coming back," she says before hugging me. "I thought Santana might have scared you away." She whispers the words into my ear but I'm pretty sure Santana hears it anyway.

"Surprisingly, she was a big help."

Santana frowns at my statement. "No need to sound so surprised, I can be nice when I want to be." She turns to look at her girlfriend. "Do I not get a hug?"

As I watch Brittany laugh quietly before embracing her girlfriend I remember what Rachel said about how different a person Santana is around Brittany. She's right; she's like the mirror opposite of herself when she's with her girlfriend.

I smile slightly at the fact that my relationship with Rachel is more similar to theirs than I ever would have thought. Brittany clearly brings out the best in Santana and Rachel brings out the best in me.

"Come on Britt, Quinn is staying with us tonight."

Brittany doesn't even question it which I'm grateful for and I follow them both up the stairs towards their bedroom. "Are you coming?" Santana asks as I hover outside their room, my gaze focused on the other bedroom door on that floor.

"In a second."

Santana follows my gaze before nodding. She closes the door, leaving it slightly ajar. I walk towards my own bedroom door and listen intently.

Silence.

She must have fallen asleep, at least she's not still crying, although my heart twinges in sadness at the knowledge that she most likely cried herself to sleep. It's amazing how even though there is only a door separating us, I've never felt further away from her. Subconsciously my hand hovers over the door handle, only a slight action and it will open.

I could go in and climb into bed with her. I could sleep beside her for the first time since we met.

I bring my hand away from the door handle and walk towards Santana and Brittany's room, pushing the door open before closing it quietly behind me.

"I thought you were going to go in."

I turn to look at Brittany who is already lying in bed; Santana must be in the bathroom. "I thought about it."

"Then why didn't you?"

I climb onto the sofa, my bed for the second night in a row. "I don't want to wake her."

"I don't think she'd mind getting woken up by you," Brittany says. "I wouldn't."

In spite of myself I laugh. "I'll let her sleep and talk to her tomorrow morning." Santana walks out of the bathroom and climbs into bed with Brittany.

"You best not snore!" She says as she tosses me an extra pillow.

I choose to ignore her but thank her for the pillow. I can hear them moving about in order to get comfortable as I roll towards the cushions so I can't see the pair of them doing what I should be doing with Rachel right now.

I thought that this week would change the dynamics between Rachel and I but I think they've already changed.

I think they changed the minute she asked me to come with her.

If I'm being honest I think the moment I approached her in the bar, I set the ball rolling for the dynamics to change. It was just a matter of when that would be.

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><p>I wake up earlier than yesterday and for a second I feel disorientated before remembering the events of last night. I sit up on the sofa to see Brittany and Santana still fast asleep, Santana happily snuggling with her girlfriend. I smile at the simple action, wishing that my own relationship with Rachel was that simple. I throw the blanket off before tiptoeing towards their bedroom door. I open and close it as quietly as I can, hoping that I didn't wake them up.<p>

I can hear the shower running when I approach the door. My hand hovers over the door handle once more and for a moment I think about turning around and going back to the other room before my hand opens the door of its own accord. I stand awkwardly in the room for a second, feeling significantly out of place.

"Quinn?"

I turn towards the bathroom to see Rachel standing there in nothing but a towel. She's pressing it firmly against herself and my mouth goes dry. All I want to do is rip it off her and in the past I would have. When we were just friends with benefits, I would have tugged that towel away and led her into the shower.

But I doubt everything now.

"You're still here."

"Sorry to disappoint you but it will take more than an argument to get rid of me," I reply.

She shakes her head. "I'm not disappointed. I'm glad you're still here."

"You are?"

She smiles softly at me. "Of course I am. I should never have told you to leave. I was just angry and I don't appear to have a filter when I'm angry."

"It's okay, I was angry too."

"I'm sorry…"

We both speak at the same time and a ghost of a smile forms on my lips. "I didn't mean to disturb you," I say before realising that's a lie. "I don't really know what I was planning to do but I didn't want to stay away from you any longer."

"It's your room too Quinn." She smiles, disappearing for a second before coming back wearing a dressing gown. Disappointment surges through me as she covers up. "Where did you sleep last night? I thought that you'd be here when I woke up. I thought you'd ignore me and come back whilst I slept." She pulls her wet hair into a ponytail.

"I wanted to give you some space so I slept next door," I reply. "You were right about Santana, she does care. She was actually nice to me."

Rachel laughs at my statement. "She's a softy deep down; just don't tell her I told you that."

A silence descends over us and neither of us moves. Neither of us knowing the right thing to do. I fiddle with my fingers nervously and when I look at Rachel, she is doing the same thing. I can't help but smile at our mirrored actions.

I lean against the door, shutting it with my body. "I was jealous of Finn," I admit, voicing my worry from last night.

The words hang in the air and I'm waiting for Rachel to acknowledge what I've said.

I'm waiting for Rachel to reply to my confession and tell me that I have no right to be jealous because this is only pretend.

But she doesn't do that.

Instead she gives me the smallest of smiles yet I think it's my favourite smile she's ever given me.

"I know."


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: These characters belong to the creators of Glee, I own nothing. If I did, Faberry would most definitely be a couple.

Authors Note: Since Glee ended last night I thought I'd update today rather than tomorrow! Thank you all for the reviews and story alerts. I really enjoy reading what you all think and it never fails to surprise me that people like the story Those walls of Quinn's, they're slowly crumbling down. I hope this chapter is okay and that you all enjoy it. As usual all mistakes are mine!

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><p><strong>Chapter 9: <strong>

"You know?"

Rachel nods slowly. "Well I had a suspicion that you were jealous and my suspicions are usually surprisingly accurate. It's actual quite scary."

"How did you know?"

"You snapped at me twice yesterday and both times were as a result of Finn," she explains. "I kind of just put two and two together and guessed it was jealousy. But when you really lost your temper at the news that he tried to kiss me then it really clicked and I realised that my guess was correct."

"I thought I was more subtle than that," I joke.

"If you thought you were as subtle as a brick then you were right," she replies playfully. "I just…I don't understand why you were jealous." Maybe she hadn't said it earlier but this is clearly when she is going to tell me that I have no right to be jealous but once again that doesn't happen. "There is nothing between Finn and I, even if he wants there to be. He is a part of my past Quinn, not my future."

"That's the reason," I say as I recall Santana's confession to me last night about how she is jealous of Artie because he is part of Brittany's past.

Rachel cocks her head to the side slightly. "Do you mind explaining that a little bit more because I'm still not sure why you were jealous?"

"You share all these memories with him and I guess that made me jealous because I don't share those things with anybody. I don't share any memories with you."

"Memories are brilliant but memories are just….they're things you think about because you're not living them anymore. In my opinion, it's making memories that's important," she replies. "And I like to think that the reason we don't share any memories is because we're in the process of creating them."

I feel butterflies appear in the pit of my stomach. "You want to create memories with me?"

Rachel smiles, almost as if she can't believe I needed to ask the question. "Of course I do, I love spending time with you Quinn, more than I ever thought I would. As far as I'm concerned, we've got plenty of time to make memories, Finn is my past but you Quinn, you're my present. There's no need to be jealous, okay?"

"Okay," I whisper quietly as Rachel grabs some clothes from her drawer.

"Do you mind if I get changed?"

I shake my head. "Go ahead, I'll be here."

She momentarily looks relieved before she disappears in the bathroom. I'm curious as to why she didn't get changed in front of me considering I've seen her naked before but I guess she must still be self-conscious about her body. I inwardly tut at her lack of confidence in her body, although on the other hand I'm slightly glad she's gone to the bathroom. I don't think I'd have been able to control myself around her and we need to have a proper conversation, I need to tell her things and if I don't do it now, I'll lose my courage.

"Sorry about that," she says as she returns to the bedroom fully dressed.

"It's okay." She heads over to the mirror and releases her wet hair from its entrapment before beginning to brush it. "I'm so sorry Rachel." The words come out in a panicked whisper.

She stops brushing and looks over her shoulder at me. "You don't need to apologise Quinn."

"No, I do. I'm sorry I made you feel pathetic, I should never have said what I did," I say apologetically, inwardly wincing as I remember our conversation last night. "You have to know that if I could take it back I would."

"I know you would." She says softly before putting her brush down and walking towards me. "I'm sorry too; I should never have called you fucked up. I know that must have hurt and I regretted it the moment the words left my mouth." Remorse is evident on her face as she speaks. "We both said things that we didn't mean in the heat of the moment and I'm willing to forget everything that happened last night and just move on if you are?

That sounds good.

If only I could do that.

"I can't," I reply and her face fills with a mixture of worry and confusion. "That came out wrong. I'm not mad at you and you have no idea how glad I am that you're not mad at me but what you said last night, Rae, you were right. It is always one step forwards, two steps backwards with me. One minute I'm treating you like you deserved to be treated and then I'm snapping at you and you deserve so much more than that."

"It's okay; I know you don't mean it. Don't worry about it."

I examine her face to see whether she's lying but I can't figure her out. "But I do worry about it and I know that I need to change. I just…I don't know how else to be." My voice sounds more fragile than I would have liked.

Her face softens at the tone of my voice. "Maybe you could try one step forward and then another step forward," she says gently. "I find that that works for me but then again, that's just me." She smiles at me letting me know that she's not being serious.

"You make it sound so simple."

"I find that most things are a lot simpler than you first think," she says.

"Let's try it then," I say confidently. "Let's try one step forward and then another." She sits on the bed and stares up at me whilst I speak. "Ask me a question."

"I'm sorry?"

I take a seat beside her on the bed and stare at the floor. "You want to know about me and for the first time I want to tell you but I'm awful at this."

"Awful at what babe?" My head snaps up suddenly at the term of endearment and her eyes widen when she realises what she's just said. "Sorry, I know you don't like being called babe...it just slipped out."

I choose to ignore the fact that she called me babe because the fact that it came out so naturally, like she's used to calling me it made my heart swell with adoration. "Awful at opening up, I don't know where to start or what to say so if you ask me a question, maybe that will help." She nods understandingly and I wait for her to ask me something but she remains silent. "Have I made Rachel Berry speechless?" I question playfully.

"No," she replies quickly, playfully slapping me on the shoulder. "I'm just thinking of a good question."

"Okay, whenever you're ready."

"You know, ever since we first met I've been curious about you. I've wondered why you are the way you are but now I actually have the chance to find out, I can't think of anything to ask," she says. "Is that stupid?"

"No. I've asked you out of the blue, you weren't expecting it."

She exhales heavily. "You said the other day that your high school experience was bad, what happened?" She asks. "Or how about why you don't do relationships? Or why you don't like marriage." She pauses for a second. "Sorry, I know you said a question."

"All of the answers are pretty much linked together anyway."

Rachel nods. "In that case why don't you just start from the beginning and tell me what you want to."

I fiddle with my cross necklace. "Have you heard of Pandora's box?"

"Yes but I don't understand what that has to do with anything," she says. "You're quite cryptic sometimes, do you know that?"

I laugh softly. "Sorry but I do have a point."

"What is it?"

"The box tempted Pandora and although she tried to resist, her curiosity got the better of her and she opened it. I wonder what she thought would be in there, probably something wonderful like gold. She didn't expect to unleash hordes of disease and evil into the world. But that's what happened."

"Quinn, I really don't understand..."

I hold my hand up to stop her from speaking. "It means you can be as curious as you want but there's no guarantee that you're going to like the answers you get," I explain. "I don't want you to think any less of me after I tell you everything."

Rachel smiles warmly at me. "I don't think there's anything you can say that would make me think any less of you."

"Let's see if you say that again when I've told you everything." I run my fingers through my hair nervously. "I'll answer your high school question first and then you'll get the answer to everything else you're probably wondering about."

"Just tell me whatever you feel comfortable with," she says softly. "And if you want to stop then stop, I don't want to make you do anything you do want to."

I cup her cheek gently. "How are you so perfect?"

"I highly doubt I'm perfect Quinn, I have plenty of flaws you've yet to see."

"Well I think you're perfect, undiscovered flaws and all."

Rachel blushes at my compliment and nuzzles into my hand. "You're stalling," she says quietly. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

I bring my hand away from her cheek. "No, I want to." I bury my head in my hands for a second to compose myself before facing Rachel. "When I was in High School, I was bullied, a lot. I used to be much bigger than I am now, rotund if you want. I didn't really have any friends, only this one Irish student called Rory who moved to America when he was fourteen. He was my only friend and I was his. Most people couldn't understand his accent, even I struggled sometimes but he was a really great guy and a fantastic listener," I joke lightly but Rachel doesn't crack a smile. "Did you used to want to be like Santana and Brittany?"

Rachel furrows her eyebrows whilst thinking. "It depends what you mean by want to be like them. I never really dreamed of being popular but I wanted people to look at me like they looked at Santana and Brittany. I wanted people to respect me."

"And they didn't?"

"I received many slushie facials before I met Finn, then I guess everything changed. I guess I did sort of become respected and nobody looked at me like they did when I started high school."

I nod at her explanation. "I used to look at the popular crowd and wish that I could be a part of them. But they just saw me as a loser. You said that you used to be a loser so I guess we're a perfect match. My weight was my weakness, my biggest insecurity and everybody used it against me. They tortured me for it, taunted me and shoved me into lockers just to see how much they'd vibrate."

"Quinn..."

"Please don't," I plead and she apologises quietly. "It sounds pathetic but do you know what I wanted more than anything in high school?"

"What?"

"Somebody to love me," I say quietly. "Tragic right."

"Not at all."

"Nobody in my school looked twice at me in a romantic sense, boy or girl." I smile shyly when I see that Rachel is holding her hand up, begging to ask a question. "You don't have to put your hand up babe."

Like hers had earlier, my term of endearment comes out naturally and her face lights up. I can't help but smile wider at her.

"I didn't want to interrupt."

"What's wrong?"

"You said boy," she says slowly. "I thought you were gay."

"I am. I just didn't accept it at first. I think I always knew I just...I was already picked on for being fat, I didn't want to be picked on for something else," I explain. "One day I just decided I'd had enough, it was either give up or fight back. So I decided to stop wallowing in self-pity and lose the weight. I started exercising and dieting and although it took months, eventually I came back to school looking like I do now, only younger and with blonde hair." Rachel brushes a strand of hair behind her ear. "It's amazing how losing weight causes people to look at you like you're a different person. It's almost as if nobody remembered what I used to look like. People started asking me out but I knew that they didn't care about me, they just wanted sex. I mean I had gone from an overweight loser to a hot teenager. But I wasn't willing to give it to them. I guess I was naive but I believed that you had to be in love to have sex," I tell her. "Anyway, I wanted to wait for somebody special to lose my virginity. Somebody I was in love with."

"That's understandable; I wanted to wait until I was 25 before I had sex."

"I'm guessing that never happened? Unless…please tell me I wasn't your first."

"No Quinn you were not my first!" Rachel shakes her head fervently. "I mean have you seen me, as if people wouldn't want to have sex with me," she boasts playfully. "No I'm only joking. I know I'm not as hot as Santana and Brittany or as beautiful as you…"

"Why do you do that?" I ask curiously. "Why do you always put yourself down? You are beautiful Rachel; don't ever think that you're not." I can see a blush appear in her cheeks and she ducks her head in embarrassment. I place my finger under her chin and bring her head back up. "So when did you break your rule then?"

"When I was 18, I slept with Finn in high school."

I can feel a small element of jealousy appearing in the pit of my stomach at her admittance that Finn was the one to take her virginity. "If you wanted to wait then why didn't you?" I question, avoiding her gaze ever so slightly.

"I was in love with Finn and even though part of me wished I had waited until I was 25, I don't regret it because it felt right. I wanted to share everything with him."

"I slept with somebody a couple of months later. Somebody I didn't love," I say.

"If you wanted to wait until you were in love, why didn't you?"

"After I lost all the weight and people started noticing me I thought my life was going to become perfect. Then a month later, my mom told me she had cancer, breast cancer," I say quietly and I think I might have spoken too quietly for Rachel to hear but the comforting squeeze on my knee tells me that she has. Thankfully she doesn't say anything. "She kept telling me that she was fine and she would beat it but I was only sixteen so naturally I didn't believe her and I thought the worst. Every time she told me that she would beat it, I thought...I thought what if she doesn't? What if it beats her and she dies?"

"Quinn..."

"I suppose every child at some point thinks about their parents dying and then they never want to think about it again because the mere thought that they won't be there to look after you anymore is so horrid that you just...you can't cope with it." I pinch the bridge of my nose to keep my tears at bay. "I was different though, I never thought that, my parents were invincible in my eyes. I think that's why her cancer hit me so hard."

Rachel looks like she wants to say something but stays silent, allowing me to talk.

"I never thought about life without my mom or dad and now I had to because there was a possibility that one day my mom wouldn't be there. I used to panic whenever she went to bed in case she didn't wake up again. I used to wait for the day that the doctors told us her cancer was untreatable. When she was first diagnosed, we all pretended that everything was fine; we all pretended that her cancer didn't exist. It was almost like a cold, she would be ill for a little bit but then she'd get better. I used to sit in my room and wait for the pretence to be over, I waited for the news to come that she was going to die." I place my hand over hers which is still resting on my knee and she turns her hand so it's palm upwards, lacing her fingers with mine. "I think that people react to personal trauma one of two ways, they either shut down and keep everything locked in which is what I do now, or they act out as a way of dealing with their problems. That's what I did first."

"How?"

"My mom's cancer made me realise that life was too short to wait for love so I slept with the captain of the football team," I say simply. "In fact I slept with most of the footballers." Rachel's eyes widen a little. "I know, slutty."

"I didn't say anything," she replies defensively.

"You didn't have to; I know that I was a slut. Until I met you, I spent my life sleeping around with random people. Back then I spent almost a year acting out and sleeping around but whenever my mom needed me, I was there for her. You said Santana became a bitch to deal with her troubles, I guess having meaningless sex was how I dealt with mine. For just a small moment of time, I wasn't the daughter of a cancer patient, I wasn't burdened with my mom's illness, I was just me."

I sniff slightly and Rachel shuffles closer to me, releasing her hold on my hand and wrapping her arm around my waist. "Did your dad not know about this?"

I scoff loudly. "My dad was a little busy."

"That's understandable, I mean if his wife was ill I'm sure he had his hands full but I'm sure he would have taken the time to hear your worries," she says. "You're his daughter after all."

"He was busy fucking another woman," I spit coldly and she flinches at the obscenity and my tone. "Whilst my mom had a mastectomy, he was having an affair. Instead of holding her hand, he was cheating on her. So no Rachel, he wouldn't have taken the time to hear my worries, to hear about my behaviour, he couldn't even be there for his sick wife. So I was there, I held her hand through the doctor's appointments, I held her hand when the doctor told her she needed a mastectomy and I held her hand the day the doctor told her she was in remission."

"That's..."

"I was sixteen!" I shout, ignoring her interruption. "I was a child who was dealing with the possibility of losing my mom, I didn't even contemplate the possibility of losing my dad," I say, tapping my fingers against my thigh nervously. "After my mom went into remission, I told him I knew what he was doing and told him to leave. I didn't want my mom to find out but I also didn't want her living with that scumbag. Obviously he laughed off my demand and stayed where he was." Rachel squeezes my hip softly. "So I went with Plan B and told him I was gay."

"How would that help?"

"My father was a devout Christian; he thought homosexuality was a sin. I was brought up believing the same thing...that if I looked at women the way I should look at men then there was something wrong with me. I was a sinner and would go to hell." I exhale sharply. "I guess that's another reason why I didn't want to accept the fact that I was gay. Then I witnessed my father committing adultery and he had the audacity to lecture me about right and wrong when he was breaking one of the Ten Commandments."

"That's very hypocritical of him," Rachel says.

"My father is the king of hypocrisy. It's one rule for him and another for everybody else," I spit. "My mom needed to focus on getting better and I didn't want to burden her with the fact that her husband was cheating on her. So I told my father the one thing I knew would make him hate me, I told him I was gay," I explain and I can see confusion fill Rachel's eyes.

"I don't understand why you would want him to hate you."

I ignore her question because she'll get the answer in a minute. "I could see the hatred form in his eyes as he looked at me. It's almost as if I could see him disowning me in his mind." I look at Rachel and realise her eyes are filled with unshed tears. "You told me that you were worried people in high school hated you but they didn't. If they did, you'd have known for definite because you would have been able to see it in their eyes and you would never have forgotten that feeling. That feeling you get when you realise that you don't measure up, when you realise that somebody hates you." I finger my cross necklace nervously, feeling anger bubble up inside. "He did exactly what I thought he would do, he told me to get out of his house. But I knew he would lose his temper and disown me but I also knew my mom would rush to my defence, she would be there for me, like I had been for her. She would defend her daughter against a homophobic man; blood is thicker than water and all that. She wouldn't let him kick me out and instead she would throw him out. That way I get rid of him without my mom knowing the sordid truth."

"I have a really bad feeling that that didn't happen."

"Well you're right," I say. "She agreed with him." I wipe my eyes as I feel tears brimming. I can't cry, I won't cry over my parents. "She sided with him and told me to leave. I had been with her every step of the way through her cancer, I'd been there when he was nowhere to be seen and she repaid me by taking his side. I wanted to tell her about the affair but deep down I couldn't. She was still weak and recovering, I didn't want to do anything to jeopardise her health. She was still my mom after all."

"I'm so sorry."

"Don't...don't give me sympathy," I warn her briefly. "You have no idea what it's like to have your parents turn against you, to look at you as if you're nothing to them anymore."

"What happened?"

"I left straight away. My mom watched as I packed and I thought she wanted to say something, I thought she was going to change her mind but she stayed silent and watched me leave. She let me leave. I moved in with Rory and his parents and lived with them for the next two years until I went to college and I've been on my own ever since. When I walked out of my parent's house, I swore to myself that I was done with them."

"Have you not spoken to them since?"

"My mom reached out to me in my second year of college, said she wanted to rekindle our relationship. Said she wanted to try again. The woman who stood by and let me get thrown out suddenly wanted another chance. I told her about my dad's affair because she was healthy and because I didn't care about protecting her anymore and do you know what she said?" Rachel shakes her head even though the question is rhetorical. "She said she knew. Always had. I couldn't believe that she would stay with him after what he did, that she was still with him. I mean having an affair is horrible; having an affair whilst your wife could possibly be dying is downright disgusting. I asked her why she would stay with a man who clearly didn't love her and she looked me in the eye and told me that she loved him too much to walk away. She loved him too much to leave him and be alone. No matter what he did, she still loved him, always would."

Rachel stares at me open-mouthed. I guess when she asked for me to open-up she wasn't expecting this. I had warned her that she wouldn't like the answers she was given but judging by her expression, she hadn't believed me. She probably thought I was mimicking her and being a drama queen.

"I told her to leave and that was the last time I ever spoke to her." Rachel's eyes widen in curiosity. "A couple of months later I got a phone call from my dad, I knew something was wrong otherwise he wouldn't be calling me. You know when you have that feeling that something bad is going to happen, almost like a premonition." She nods. "I think deep down I knew what he was going to say before I even answered the phone and I was right. He told me that my mom had died, her cancer had returned. He hadn't called me when her cancer came back just when she had died, that way I didn't have to be in his life for long. He didn't even give me a chance to say goodbye. My mom had been sick when she came to see me, she wanted to try again with me because she knew she was dying and it was her last chance and I threw it back in her face."

"You couldn't have known."

"But I should have!" My voice is louder than expected and Rachel jumps at the volume. "My mom died and the only person she had by her side was her adulterous bastard of a husband."

"I'm so sorry."

"Don't apologise," I say angrily. "I never understand why people say they're sorry. I mean it's not your fault. You don't apologise for something you haven't done so why apologise for a person's death. Unless you killed them, you have nothing to apologise for. It's such a stupid phrase!"

Rachel ducks her head nervously. "I guess people don't know what else to say other than sorry."

"Anything is better than sorry." I reply in a softer voice. "You know, I never went back home for my mom's funeral." I don't look at Rachel because I don't want to see her facial expression. "You must be thinking what sort of daughter doesn't go to their own mother's funeral."

"I wasn't."

"I wanted to. I bought the plane ticket and everything but I just couldn't get on that plane." I rub my hands on my thighs. "I couldn't go back, not because I thought the funeral would be too hard, but because I couldn't face my father. I didn't trust myself around him and I feared I would do something that I wouldn't regret. My aunt told me it was a beautiful ceremony and she told me where the grave was, for when I come home. She didn't ask me why I wasn't there, I think, honestly she knew." I glance at Rachel to see her staring at me intently. "That day I left Tallahassee for New York was the last day I stepped foot there, I haven't been back home since."

"Why not?"

"Because I feel so fucking guilty Rachel." She winces at my obscenity once more. "I can't go and visit her grave because I don't know what I'd say. I hate her for siding with my father! She abandoned me. She's my mom and I should love her but I hate her for what she did. I can't go to her grave because even though I hate her, I hate myself more."

"Why?"

"Because if I had given her a second chance, she wouldn't have had to die with only him by her side, if I hadn't been stubborn I would have had more time with her." I can feel tears brimming in my eyes once more before I blink them away.

"You can't think like that."

"No matter what my feelings are towards her, I hate myself for leaving her with him. I should have been mature and heard her out. I should have gone to the funeral."

"I'm sorry Quinn."

"Stop saying that!" I stand up quickly causing Rachel to jump at my sudden movement. "You wanted to know why I don't do relationships; my parent's marriage is exactly why not."

"Because your father had an affair?" Rachel asks, remaining on the bed.

"Because I don't want to love somebody so much that I can't walk away from them no matter what they do. I can't be that dependent on somebody, that's not who I am. I've had to be self-sufficient since I was eighteen, I don't know how to be that dependent on somebody else," I shout.

I haven't even noticed Rachel approach me until her arms are around my neck, pulling me into her. "It's okay Quinn."

I push her away harsher than intended. "You see the world through rose-tinted glasses; you grew up with two loving parents. I'm sure you were the idyllic little family. You don't know what it's like to be so afraid to love somebody because of what happened to your parents. Are your dads happily married?"

"Very happily married," she responds and I can tell she's unsure at the change of topic.

"And do you aspire to be like them in the future?" I ask before rephrasing the question. "Do you want what they have? The happy marriage, contentment, security."

"Doesn't everybody?"

"When I was little I used to want to be like my parents, I wanted to have the happy marriage, the ideal family but that's naivety Rachel. Behind closed doors things are not what they seem. It's a fairy tale. I found out the hard way that their happy marriage was anything but."

"You can't lump marriage altogether because your parents didn't have the best one," Rachel says. "Just because you witnessed an unhappy marriage doesn't mean that every marriage is the same, it doesn't mean that if you get married your marriage will be unhappy."

"You can't know that."

"And neither can you." She takes a step towards me; obviously hesitant after the last time she tried to touch me. "What are you really scared of?"

"What?"

"I understand everything you've said, I understand that you don't want to be dependent on somebody because the last people you were dependent on let you down but there's something else that's frightening you, something else that is stopping you from having a relationship."

"There's not…" She raises her eyebrows at her and I concede. "What if I'm like my dad?"

"You're not."

"You don't know that Rachel." I run my fingers through my hair rapidly. "My mom was a trophy wife for my dad; I can't honestly say whether he loved her. I mean if he was willing to cheat on her repeatedly he can't have. What if I have a relationship and cheat like he did? I don't want to hurt somebody like he hurt my mom."

"So you don't let yourself commit to somebody because you don't want to hurt them?" She asks as she runs her hand up and down my arm in a soothing fashion. "Quinn don't be ridiculous. You can't put your life on hold because you're worried. I think the fact that you don't want to hurt somebody means that you wouldn't. You hate your dad for what he did but you'd hate yourself even more if you did the same." She smiles warmly at me. "You don't need to be scared Quinn; you just need to give a relationship a chance."

I sigh heavily. "I don't know how to be with somebody else Rach, I don't know how to look after somebody else," I confess. "I've been living alone for ten years; I don't know how to let anybody in."

Rachel grabs my hand and entwines our fingers. "That's not true. You're letting me in right now," she states. "Besides, we've known each other for two months and Quinn; you are one of the sweetest people I've ever met," she says. "You know when you're not pushing me away," she adds playfully.

"Sweet? I don't think anybody's ever called me sweet before."

"Well I'm glad I could be the first." She nods. "Do you know something? Anybody would be lucky to have you as their girlfriend."

"Even you?"

Rachel doesn't flinch at my question. "If you were my girlfriend, I would cherish every moment with you. You have no idea how truly amazing you are do you?"

I take a step away from her, breaking her hold on my hand. "I'm not amazing. I snapped at you last night because I couldn't just admit I was jealous."

Her tongue darts out briefly to lick her lips. "Stop putting yourself down."

"Why not? Let's be honest Rachel, I'm not girlfriend material."

"Stop making up excuses. I think you know how to be in a relationship, I just think you're scared of letting yourself be in one," she says calmly. "You use what happened with your parents as an excuse because you're scared of being dependent on somebody after your parents let you down."

"Don't psychoanalyse me."

"Don't do that Quinn, don't shut down," she pleads. "You had a rough time growing up and I'm not surprised that you have issues but you can't blame your past forever. You are amazing Quinn, if you let yourself have a relationship, then I think you'd surprise yourself at how much you like having somebody in your life." I can't help but think that Rachel is right, I mean, Rachel is the first person that I've truly let in and I can't imagine not having her in my life. "I think you'll find that somebody could easily fall in love with you if you just give them a chance."

I'm silent for quite some time allowing her words to sink her. "Could you?"

"Could I what?"

"Fall in love with me," I say quietly, almost afraid to hear the answer. I'm pretty confident that I'm in love with her but if she says that she couldn't love me then I don't think I could take it.

My eyes involuntarily close when she doesn't answer. I don't want to look her as she says no but the word no doesn't fall from her lips. "Yes," she says firmly.

I open my eyes just in time to see her wrap her arms around my neck as she pulls me into a hug. I lose myself in her comfort, in her scent, just in her. I tighten my hold on her, not wanting this moment to end.

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><p><strong>Rachel:<strong>

I can feel her hold on me tighten as she nuzzles her face into my neck. I've learnt that when Quinn tightens her hold it means she doesn't want to let me go but I don't plan on going anywhere. Her question about whether I could fall in love with her lingers in the back of my mind as I bury my head into the crook of her neck.

"I think I already have."

She doesn't hear my confession but I didn't want her to.

It's not the right time yet.

For now, I'm quite content to just stay in her arms.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: These characters belong to the creators of Glee, I own nothing. If I did, Faberry would most definitely be a couple.

Authors Note: Thanks once again for the reviews and story alerts I really cannot tell you how much I appreciate them. I apologise for the slightly longer wait for this chapter but I had exams to do and apparently writing fan fiction isn't good revision but they're all out of the way now so hopefully back to weekly(ish) updates! Still in Quinn's point of view in this chapter and the next one. Hope you all enjoy it and as usual all mistakes are mine!

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><p><strong>Chapter 10: <strong>

The day I decided to become a teacher, I was sure for the first time in years that that was the right thing for me to do. I've never really been sure about anything in my life other than a couple of things but becoming a teacher, that I was sure about. It's almost as if one day I just had this crystallising moment of clarity and I knew what to do. But now I'm sure about something else, two things actually. I'm sure that meeting Rachel was the best thing I could have ever done and I'm sure that I don't want to lose her.

When I opened up to her earlier, I thought that would be it. I thought Rachel would hear about my past and realise that she was right when she called me fucked up; I thought she would leave but she didn't.

She stayed with me.

And if I hadn't already realised that I was in love with her, her staying with me would have made me realise.

Before I met her, I couldn't see myself spending my life with anybody but she has this amazing ability to make everything seem okay no matter what the situation and I want her in my life. In the past I've always worked best alone, it's the only way I've known how to be but she makes me want to be her girlfriend.

I don't want to work alone anymore because I think with her, I'll be better than I could ever be by myself.

I take a bite of my bacon sandwich whilst Rachel gives me a playful look of disgust. I return the look as she pours soya milk over her cereal. "I don't understand how you can eat that."

"I don't understand how you can eat that," Rachel repeats as she gestures her head towards my bacon sandwich before sitting down at the table beside me.

We came down for breakfast about fifteen minutes ago after deciding that anything else I had to tell Rachel could wait until later. Rachel thought it would do us both some good if we took a break before tackling any more issues that I still had to discuss. I place my hand on her thigh, wanting to have some form of contact with her. She sends me a small smile before eating a spoonful of cereal. She turns to look at me like she wants to say something but she is still chewing. I smile softly back at her and wait for her to finish eating.

She swallows her mouthful finally. "Why is that when you want to say something it takes much longer to finish eating a mouthful?" She questions more to herself than to me. She shrugs her own question off, leaving it unanswered and brings her attention back to me. "Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

She shrugs her shoulders. "I know you said you wanted to open up to me but now that it's happened I don't know how you feel about it. I don't want things to be weird between us."

"I don't think things are weird, do you?"

"No, I just want to make sure that you're okay," Rachel clarifies. "I'd hate for you to feel upset or sad because I made you tell me things about your past. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories; I guess you were right, I didn't expect the things you told me."

I cup her cheek softly. "You didn't make me do anything babe, I wanted to open up to you." Rachel nuzzles into my touch. "I'm okay, are you?" She nods slowly. "Then everything's okay for now. But like I said, once I tell you everything you might look at me in a different way."

Her eyebrows furrow at my statement. "You really haven't grasped the concept that there's nothing you can say to make me look at you in a different way have you? Quinn you needn't worry about that, I'm here, no matter what you say."

"I bet when you asked me to pretend to be your girlfriend this week you never expected this."

The corner of Rachel's mouth tugs up in a small smile. "No I didn't but I also didn't expect to look at you as my girlfriend rather than just my pretend girlfriend." I have to catch my breath at her answer and she kisses my cheek quickly. "We can talk about that later though. We're talking about you today."

I can feel my heartbeat quicken at her words and it swells with adoration. I reluctantly bring my hand away from her cheek and she pouts at the loss of contact. I can't help but smile before taking another bite of my sandwich before washing it down with some coffee.

"Thank you for telling me," she replies, bringing the conversation back on topic. "I know it must have been hard."

"I find that things are simpler than you first think," I say repeating her earlier statement. She laughs mid-eating causing some soya milk to dribble down her chin. She wipes it away furiously and blushes intensely.

"That was embarrassing."

"It was cute." I peck her cheek and her blush dissipates. "You're cute."

"I can sense the sickly romantic atmosphere from upstairs," Santana states as she walks into the kitchen with Brittany.

"Does this mean you've patched things up?" Brittany asks hopefully. "Quinn was a sad panda last night and I didn't like it. Sadness doesn't suit her."

"Patched things up, did you two have a fight?" Kurt comments as he follows the couple into the kitchen. He looks directly at Rachel, barely acknowledging me. "Why didn't you come and find me."

I may not have experience when it comes to relationships but I do know that after a couple has an argument, they vent to their friends about the other person. Last night, although I didn't vent, I had somebody to talk to, somebody to confide in. I'm guessing that Kurt is Rachel's go to guy so I'm curious as to why she didn't seek him out last night to vent about my sporadic behaviour.

"I wouldn't say we had a fight," Rachel states loudly enough for everybody to hear. "We had a disagreement but it's all resolved now. I mean what couple doesn't have arguments every now and again." She brings her attention to Kurt. "And I didn't come and find you Kurt because it was quite late and I didn't want to wake you. Needless to say if Quinn and I hadn't worked things out this morning, I would have been banging on your door venting about her behaviour," she says softly, winking at me in the process.

Santana raises her eyebrow at me as she takes a sip of her coffee, almost as if she's asking me whether or not Rachel's telling the truth. I nod my head at her, silently telling her that everything is okay and it seems to appease her because she easily falls into conversation with Brittany about her girlfriend's dream last night.

Kurt sits down on one of the free chairs and pours himself a cup of coffee from the pot. "It's nice to see you down earlier than yesterday Rachel," he says. "You're restoring some natural order back into the world, although I'm still surprised you haven't been down here at 6am."

Rachel laughs at her best friend's comment. "I will do my very best to wake up at 6am tomorrow morning, so that complete natural order can be restored."

"You're not serious are you?" I ask quietly so only Rachel can hear. "There's no way I'm getting up at 6am."

"Nonsense Quinn, you're a teacher, you must be used to early starts."

"Yeah during the school year, not during the summer vacation." I peer into my mug to see that it's empty before taking a sip of Rachel's orange juice before continuing. "I like to sleep in when I'm not working."

Rachel leans closer to me. "Well then I'll try and not wake you tomorrow morning."

I wrap my arm around the back of her chair and give her a devilish grin. "Or you could just stay in bed with me."

Rachel's eyebrows raise and I think we both realise that what I said meant that I would be sleeping in bed with her rather than escaping the confinement to sleep on the couch, away from her so I wasn't tempted.

"I could…" Rachel ponders the suggestion.

"I'm sure I can find a way to persuade you." Rachel's smile widens at my suggestion and her cheeks fill with a slight pink tint.

"What should the plan of action be for the day?"

Santana shovels a piece of toast into her mouth. "You're the host Hummel, shouldn't you be telling us?" Brittany smiles sweetly at her girlfriend before telling her off briefly for talking with her mouth full. Santana ducks her head down and swallows her food before apologising.

"Say it, don't spray it Santana," Kurt says and Santana surprisingly ducks her head down once more. "I have some ideas; I just wanted to open the suggestion to the floor."

"What are your ideas?" I ask and he seems pleased that his ideas are first to be listed.

"Well I say my ideas, really Blaine suggested this. Since it's a lovely day he suggested we have a day where we remember what it was like to be children and just relax in the backyard, be carefree. He suggested playing some sports and even though naturally I'm not sporty, he seemed so enthusiastic I couldn't say no." Kurt fiddles with his engagement ring. "Water polo is one idea. Since it's our bachelor party tonight we didn't want something that would tire us out so we thought a nice relaxing day would be lovely. Obviously you don't have to agree with me."

"I think that sounds lovely," I say and Rachel smiles at my answer before humming in agreement.

"As long as I get some sun I don't really care," Santana says.

Brittany smiles widely. "I love that idea; it's so simple and freeing. Plus I love being in the water because it makes me feel like I'm connecting with the ducks. Do you have any ducks here Kurt?"

"No we don't, sorry Brittany."

Brittany pouts for a second before shrugging it off and finishing her drink. "I still love being in the water so I might just end up staying there all day. I'm not very good at sports unless it's dancing but that won't be fun because I dance better than all of you, except for Mike, he's my equal." Santana laughs at her girlfriend before whispering something in her ear. "You're my second equal babe," Brittany replies.

"Fantastic," Kurt claps in happiness. "I'm just going to take this cup of coffee to Blaine and I'll let everybody else know when they wake up. I guess go outside whenever you want and when everybody is down we'll organise a game of some sort." He releases a small squeal of excitement before picking up the mug and disappearing upstairs.

Rachel picks up my plate along with her bowl and heads to the sink, filling the bowl with water. "I'm glad you two have worked things out," Brittany says from across the table.

"Not nearly as glad as I am."

"I may not be very clever but I can read people like books and the way you look at her is the same way San looks at me," she continues staring dotingly at her girlfriend.

"Is the way she looks at me the same way you look at Santana?"

"Of course it is, you're Brittana 2.0."

"Brittana?"

Brittany stares at me like I've just asked the stupidest question in the world. "Brittany and Santana, it's our names together. It's got a fancy name that has port in it but I can never remember what it is."

"Portmanteau babe," Santana provides the word her girlfriend is looking for and receives a grateful smile in return.

"What are you three talking about?" Rachel asks as she returns to her seat, flicking a small bit of water in my direction.

"Apparently we're Brittana 2.0."

Rachel chuckles softly. "Now there's a compliment if ever I've heard one, we'd be lucky to be Brittana 2.0. Nearly ten years together and you're still going strong."

Brittany squeals softly and whispers something into Santana's ear. Santana merely shakes her head before saying the word 'later' quietly but loud enough for Rachel and I to hear. Rachel stares at the couple before grabbing my hand and pulling me up. "You need to help me pick out a bikini."

"You don't need to make excuses Berry, if you're going upstairs to have sex just admit it." Santana sends a sly wink in our direction.

"Is sex all you think about Santana?" Rachel asks but like earlier she doesn't wait for an answer. "Besides I wasn't planning on having sex with Quinn, I genuinely wanted her to pick out a bikini for me to wear."

"How many did you bring?" I ask.

Rachel shrugs. "One can never be too sure what is going to happen. I like to be prepared therefore I brought an assortment."

We bid Santana and Brittany goodbye and I let Rachel lead me out of the kitchen. "But we're only here for five days, I find it hard to believe that you'd need more than one, considering its mid-week and you're only now about to wear one for the first time."

Rachel shushes me and leads me up the stairs towards our bedroom. "Well I was going to model them for you but now I don't think I will."

I grab her waist and pull her into me, making sure I have hold of her since we're on the stairs. She screams slightly at the sudden contact. "Clearly I'm wrong in thinking that you only need one bikini, I think you should show me how wrong I am by modelling them all for me."

Rachel laughs and moves out of hold, climbing the stairs two by two until she reaches our bedroom. For such a small person she can certainly move quickly. She grabs a bikini from her drawer and hovers by the bathroom door. "You change here and I'll change in the bathroom."

Before I can suggest that we just change in the same room, she closes the door behind her. I grab the hem of my t-shirt and throw it over my head before searching for my own bikini. I put my bikini top on and turn my head at the sound of a door opening.

Rachel places her hands on her hips and shows off the bright red bikini which accentuates her curves brilliant. "What do you think?"

I stare at her open mouthed, no matter how many times I see her; I'm still amazed at her body. "I think you should wear a bikini all the time."

Rachel laughs loudly. "This is only the first one," she says. "If you hurry up and get changed then maybe I can say that you should wear a bikini all the time. She shuts the door but leaves it slightly ajar. "Besides, I want to get into the pool so get a move on."

* * *

><p>I lean back on my sun lounger and bask in the sunlight. Rachel's been partaking in water polo for the past fifteen minutes along with everybody else aside from me, Artie, and Tina. I close my eyes and lose myself in the occasional shouts of glee when somebody scores and the shouts of disappointment from the other team. I don't know how much time passes but I soon feel shade descend over me and water droplets landing on me at a rapid pace. I open my eyes slightly to see Rachel standing over me, shaking her wet hair at me.<p>

"You're making me wet."

Rachel gives me a devilish grin. "Is that so?"

I laugh a little too loudly and the remaining people in the pool look over briefly. "You have a filthy mind Rachel; I meant it in an innocent fashion."

"Please, everything you say has some form of dirty meaning," Rachel retorts. I turn my head to the side at the sight of somebody else approaching the pool. My eyes narrow as I see Finn properly for the first time since he tried to kiss Rachel. "Don't do anything please."

I bring my eyes back to Rachel to see her staring at me pleadingly. "What would I do?"

She raises her eyebrows at me. "I don't know, maybe lose your temper or cause more problems."

"Why would I do that? I mean he only tried to kiss you when he knows about me," I bite back and I hate that he can wind me up so easily and he isn't even near us. "Sorry."

"It's okay, just please don't say anything to make things worse." She turns to look at Finn before shaking her head, silently telling him that now is not the time to come over. He nods but nervously avoids my gaze before jumping into the pool.

"Why did you do that?"

Rachel gives me a soft smile. "Because I know that you would have said something even though I told you not to so it's best if we just give it some more time to blow over." She pecks my cheek before taking a seat at the foot of the sun lounger causing me to sit up. "Can you put some sunscreen on my back please?"

I hum in agreement before picking up my sunscreen from the side of the chair. I pour some onto my hands and start rubbing it onto Rachel's back. She sighs in contentment as my hands run over her back delicately.

"Can I ask you some more questions?" Rachel asks quietly. "I mean if you want to answer more."

"Go ahead."

"When did you get your pink hair?"

My bottom lip juts out at her question; I thought it would be something heavier than that. "Once I came to New York, I wanted a change. I wanted to leave my past behind and that included my appearance. So I dyed my hair something that the old Quinn would never have had."

"So it was kind of a goodbye?"

"Exactly."

"Are you always going to keep the pink hair or go back to blonde?" She asks. "I think you'd look good as a blonde, although the pink hair does make you sort of badass."

I blow a strand of my hair out of my eyes and consider her question. "I haven't really thought about it, I guess when I'm older I'll probably change back to blonde."

"But for now…"

"The pink hair is staying for the foreseeable future."

"Good, I like the pink hair," she replies before fidgeting slightly.

"Is something wrong?"

She shakes her head before nodding a little. "No…I mean I don't think so; it's just something that I've been thinking about for a while."

"Rach, you're starting to worry me now." I grab her waist and spin her around slightly so she's looking at me. "What's on your mind beautiful?"

"This morning, I don't even know if you remember saying it, you probably don't…"

"Rachel," I say, cutting her off mid-ramble.

"Right sorry, this morning you said that before you met me you slept around." I nod telling her that I remember. "Does that mean that you haven't slept with anybody since we started doing whatever it is we're doing?"

"No," I say softly. "I haven't slept with anybody else since we met."

A look of relief washes over her face and she exhales heavily. "I just always thought that because you left mine in such a rush, you went to see another friend with benefits."

"I wouldn't do that to you." I examine her face to make sure she believes me and when her face softens I know that she does. "I left your apartment in such a rush because I don't know what would have happened if I stayed."

"What does that mean?"

I close my eyes briefly at her question before reopening them to see her staring at me intently. "Let's just say I didn't really ever want to leave."

"I never wanted you to leave either." She grins at me and its sentences like that that make me think Rachel Berry is perfect for me. I just have to brave and tell her. "I used to love it when you stayed and we just watched a movie or grabbed something to eat, it made things seem more real."

"I always thought things were real," I tell her, somewhat offended.

"I didn't mean it like that," she says quickly, spinning completely around so she's straddling the sun lounger. "Things were real, I just meant that when you stayed everything became more than just sex, it was like…"

"We were a couple," I finish for her and she nods slowly. "Is that what you want?" Rachel looks down nervously and stays silent, like she doesn't know what to say. "Actually why don't we save that question for another time, when we're alone?" I suggest and her eyes find mine again.

"I think that's for the best," she agrees. I don't know whether it's because she didn't answer straight away, whether the next time we talk about it she's going to say yes or whether she wants to wait until we're alone so she can reject me but my heart starts to beat faster at the prospect of her answering that question.

I mean she did say earlier that she looked at me as her girlfriend not a pretend one.

Surely that's a good sign.

I gesture for her to turn back around so I can finish applying the sun cream on her back. I place a gentle kiss on her shoulder when I'm done and she thanks me before moving to lie down on the free sun lounger beside me and lolls her head to face me. "What does that mean?"

"What does what mean?"

She grabs the base of her sun lounger and moves it closer to me before she trails her finger over the tattoo on my wrist.

"I got it in memory of my mom," I explain. "I used to buy her a bunch of pink carnations every year for Mother's Day, not because I liked them, hell I don't even think she liked them, but because they were the cheapest and I never really had much money growing up."

"It's the thought that counts," Rachel chimes in.

"One day I looked up what pink carnations mean and found out that they mean 'I'll never forget you'. I used to think these types of flowers were pathetic and cheap but when she died I realised that they weren't those things. They were the perfect flower and it seemed logical to get a tattoo of one because with this tattoo I'm telling her something that I can't say out loud. I guess it's something I would have told her had I gone to her funeral, if that makes sense."

"Yeah it does. When did you get it?"

"The day of her funeral."

"Then I guess you did tell her it Quinn, just not in the way you ever expected." She fingers my tattoo before removing her finger. "What about the tattoo on your lower back?"

"It's a name," I tell her. "But can I tell you what it means when we're alone; I don't want other people to hear. It's quite personal."

"Of course we can Quinn."

I feel water droplets land on my stomach once more and look away from Rachel to see Brittany staring down at me. "We need you on our team," she says. "I'm rubbish at the game and since Rachel's taking a break you have to take her place."

"I don't think I'll be very good."

Brittany shrugs her shoulders. "You'll probably be better than me; I think Santana needs somebody else on the team that can play because Kurt isn't very good either. She's losing her temper with Puck because he keeps scoring against her and I can't really help because I don't really understand the game."

"Q, get your ass into this pool right now!" Santana shouts from the edge of the pool.

"How can you decline that eloquent invitation?" Rachel jokes before closing her eyes. "I'll just stay and enjoy the sunshine."

I hold my hands up in surrender before standing. Brittany smiles and pushes me into the pool before I can even realise what's happening. I splutter as I return to the surface and Santana swims towards me laughing. "Thanks for that Brittany."

"You're welcome," she replies, either ignoring the sarcasm or failing to notice it. She has a short conversation with Rachel before she jumps into the pool and swims towards her girlfriend who points out where she should position herself.

"Are you sexy ladies re-joining the game anytime soon?" Puck shouts from the other side of the pool. "Or are you fed up of losing?"

Santana splashes the water angrily. "Game on Puckerman." Santana throws the ball in my direction and it lands in the water in front of me. "Look alive Quinn, I'm not losing to him."

"It's just a game Santana, a friendly game," Kurt chips in but quietens down when Santana glares at him.

So she's a sore loser and competitive.

This should be interesting.

* * *

><p>"How do I look?"<p>

I take in Rachel's appearance and my mouth opens slightly at her beauty. She's only wearing a simple black dress but she is stunning. "Breath taking." She blushes furiously but thanks me quietly before checking her appearance in the bedroom mirror.

She stares at me through the mirror. "You look pretty breath taking yourself."

"Stealing my compliment," I reply playfully.

"Sorry, you look absolutely beautiful. Is that better?" I smile at her through the mirror and she returns the smile before continuing to fix her hair. "I can't believe Santana gave you a bloody nose during what was meant to be a friendly game of water polo."

"Accidently," I clarify. "She got very into the game and I mistakenly got in the way of her elbow."

"Even so, she shouldn't get so worked up during games." Rachel looks over her shoulder at me. "At least it didn't ruin your good looks."

"Every cloud and all that."

We both laugh before a comfortable silence falls over us as I wait for her to finish getting ready so we can go downstairs for the bachelor party. Blaine and the rest of the guys had left about an hour ago with the intention of drinking for the rest of the night. Finn had approached Rachel to bid her goodbye but he stopped short when he noticed I was with her.

I know eventually they're going to have to have a conversation to clear the air but I kind of like how he seems to fear me ever so slightly.

Rachel and I were joining the rest of the girls to help celebrate Kurt's bachelor party in style. He had contemplated going out like Blaine but had decided to stay in and drink with the option of performing karaoke if people wanted to do it.

Rachel had immediately said that it wasn't going to be voluntary but mandatory and that she would be first to sing.

"Beth," I whisper quietly into the bedroom and I don't know why I decided to tell her that now when we're supposed to go downstairs within five minutes but for me, it seemed to be the right time.

She turns around and stares at me in confusion. "I'm Rachel."

I can't help but laugh at her response, as if I'd ever get her name wrong. "Really, I would never have known that?" I reply sardonically and she chuckles. "The Chinese symbols, they mean Beth."

"Was that your mom's name?"

I shake my head. "It's my daughter's name."

That's all it takes for the comfortable silence we had endured a minute ago to turn uncomfortable.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: These characters belong to the creators of Glee, I own nothing. If I did, Faberry would most definitely be a couple.

Authors Note: Thank you for all the reviews and story alerts, I really appreciate them :) So a couple of people didn't like the Beth aspect which I totally understand and thank you for reviewing to tell me. I did go back and forth over the idea but I think, for the Quinn I created, it was necessary but I respect everybody's opinion and I'm glad you told me. However, there will just be a conversation about Beth; she won't appear. Hope you all enjoy and as usual, all mistakes are mine.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 11: <strong>

The look on her face isn't what I expected. Actually, that's not entirely true because I don't know what I expected her reaction to be but I don't think it was this. I didn't expect her to just stare at me, expressionless. Her face doesn't show anything, not anger, not confusion, not sadness, it's just blank. Yet somehow that's worse than if her face showed an expression because then at least I could understand how she felt.

Right now, I can't even guess at how she is feeling.

And that scares me.

Rachel is not a closed book. Either she tells you how she's feeling or you can guess by her facial expressions, so not knowing how she is feeling is a frightening concept.

"Rachel, please say something." She looks at me but doesn't speak. "Anything."

Her eyebrows furrow and I accept that she isn't going to say anything until she's processed what I've just said. She knew I had more things to tell her but I don't think she ever expected me to tell her that I had a daughter. Her mouth opens and closes several times of its own accord but she doesn't form any words. The longer this silence lasts, the more nervous I become. Sure she stayed with me after what I told her this morning but finding out I have a daughter, that's a bit different. That could push her over the edge. That thought alone makes me want to be sick. I exhale heavily and her eyes find mine. I have to look away at the piercing look she is giving me, like she's trying to get answers to her questions from me but without having to ask them. I cross my arms as a natural reaction, guarding myself for the onslaught of questions that Rachel will undoubtedly ask, preparing myself for the worst.

"You're just full of surprises aren't you?"

That was not the first thing I expected her to say but the tone she used, a tone filled with disbelief and anger, now that I expected.

"You have a daughter?"

"Yeah."

"You have a daughter." This time it isn't a question, she's saying it to herself, processing it. "A daughter."

"No matter how many times you say it, the answer is still going to be the same."

"I know that Quinn, I just…I can't seem to get my head around this," she replies. She starts pacing slowly and my eyes follow her every move. "You know, I've been thinking about what else you had to tell me but having a daughter was not one of my thoughts. The way you kept saying that I might look at you differently, it made me think that you were going to tell me you're a convicted criminal or something."

"Well I'm not a convicted criminal if that makes this any better," I try to lighten the mood but neither of us cracks a smile.

"How old is she?"

It's almost natural now, the smile which appears on my face every time I think of my daughter. At first, I didn't let myself think about her because thinking about her, thinking about how I gave her up hurt too much. Gradually over time, thinking about her started to make me happy because I had given her a better life, a life that I couldn't give her. A life with decent parents who she could depend on. Those thoughts gave me comfort and that is why now when I think of her, I can smile.

"She'll be eleven next month."

Telling her my daughter's age seems to snap her out of whatever stupor she was in and her eyes narrow at me. "I understand that what you told me about your parents is something that you don't tell somebody on the first date but fuck Quinn, you should…" She emphasises strongly on the word should and it makes me feel guilty. "You should have told me you had a daughter, I mean that's pretty important information Quinn. She could have walked into your apartment at any time whilst I was there."

"That would be quite hard," I state quietly but Rachel doesn't hear.

"Is the reason I've never seen her at your apartment because you only had me round when she wasn't in?"

"I never invited you round Rachel; you just came when you felt like it. How would I have been able to time you coming round and my daughter not being in?" I question but she doesn't seem to realise what I'm trying to say. "Rachel, the reason you've never seen her is…"

Rachel stops pacing suddenly and her hand comes up to her mouth and she stares at me sorrowfully. "Did she die?"

"What? No, she's alive and well," I quickly quash her theory and Rachel brings her hand away from her mouth. "I know you must be feeling so many things right now but can I just explain before you get the wrong end of the stick again. Once you have the whole picture, feel free to shout at me, hit me, whatever you need to do."

"I would never hit you," Rachel replies softly and in spite of the tense situation, I smile.

"It would be impossible for her to walk into my apartment considering I gave her up for adoption. That's why you've never seen her when you've come over." I run my fingers through my hair nervously, as Rachel stares at me.

"You gave her up?" I nod my head at her question, fully expecting her to repeat the statement several times like she did with 'you have a daughter.' "I feel terrible for assuming that you were hiding her from me and then suggesting that she was dead."

"You have no need to feel terrible, you weren't to know."

"But I should have asked rather than jumping down your throat like that," she says, pinching the bridge of her nose. She's a lot calmer now than she was a few minutes ago. "I'm sorry; it's just a lot to take in."

"I know."

"You're a mom," she states and she's smiling.

I shake my head fervently. "No, I may have given birth to her but I'm not her mom."

"Of course you are Quinn; you will always be her mom, even if you want to say that you're not." She takes a couple of steps closer to me but stops at the bed. "If she's eleven next month you must have had her when you were in high school."

"My rough high school experience wouldn't be complete unless I had a teenage pregnancy to deal with."

"Don't joke about this Quinn, please just be serious for the moment."

"Sorry."

"You told me that you came out to your parents as gay during high school though so why did you sleep with a guy? If you'd accepted you were gay, why would you do that?"

"I was already pregnant when everything happened with my parents I just didn't know it yet. I didn't find out until after my parents kicked me out and I was staying with Rory and his family."

"Who was the father?"

Unlike this morning when I wanted to have control of the conversation, I want Rachel to lead this conversation because that way I know what she wants to hear. This morning, she wanted to hear what I had to say and she let me tell her whatever I felt comfortable with but now I'll tell her whatever she wants to know.

"One of the guys on the football team, Adam," I tell her and she patiently waits for me to expand on that little nugget of information. "I slept with him a couple of times when my mom had cancer and when I moved in with Rory, I found out I was three months pregnant. He was actually great about it, I expected him to make me deal with it alone but he said he'd be there for me every step of the way. I told him straight away that I didn't want to keep her and he said that if that was what I wanted, he'd support me." I walk closer to Rachel and take a seat on the foot of the bed. "I think deep down he wanted to keep her but he never told me that. He was with me at the birth and I will always be grateful for that."

"Did you not want to keep her?"

"I told you this morning that I couldn't be dependent on somebody, that I couldn't look after somebody; do you really think that I'm capable of looking after a child?" I ask but Rachel doesn't answer me, she knows that I'm not looking for an answer. "I always knew that I would give her up. I mean my parents had disowned me, I was a mess, and I couldn't bring a baby into the mess that was my life. It wouldn't have been fair." I pause to take a deep breath.

"You can do anything if you put your mind to it," Rachel says as she sits beside me.

"Maybe that's true but I didn't think about raising a child, I didn't set my mind to that way of thinking," I explain. "I wanted my daughter to have the best life possible and that wasn't with me."

"Would it have made a difference?"

"Would what have made a difference?"

"If Adam had told you that he wanted to keep Beth, would you have kept her?"

I hesitate before answering, unsure whether the answer I have is the one Rachel wants to hear. "No, it wouldn't have made a difference. Maybe if we were both older but at the time, I was giving her up for adoption no matter what." Rachel averts her gaze from mine and looks down. "You were hoping I'd say yes."

"I wasn't hoping you'd say anything Quinn, I was just asking a question."

"If you had a teen pregnancy would you keep the baby?"

"I don't think I can really answer that," she answers. "I don't think anybody can unless they're in the situation."

"Hypothetically?"

Rachel swallows before answering. "Hypothetically, I'd like to say I'd keep the baby."

"Do you think I'm a bad person because I never once thought about keeping her?"

Rachel pulls me into her and I bury my head in the crook of her neck. "No, I don't Quinn. How can you be a bad person for doing what you thought was the best for you daughter?"

"What if it wasn't the best for her?"

"Do you think it was?"

I nod into her neck and Rachel pulls back, placing her hands on either side of my face. "Then you've just answered your own question." She kisses me and my stomach jumps. This is our first proper kiss that means something, it isn't just a peck and it isn't just foreplay, it's real.

I've been thinking about this for a while now, how our first proper kiss would go. I pictured it being romantic and that it would happen after what would be our first real date and sometimes fantasy doesn't live up to reality.

But this time, the reality surpassed my fantasy.

Rachel breaks the kiss and rests her forehead against mine. She stares at me intensely but unlike earlier, I don't look away. I can't. I lose myself in the brown pools of her eyes and I feel comfort, I feel safe.

"You were going to give the teddy bear to Beth."

It's comes out of nowhere but it's not a question.

I nod against her forehead. "I thought it would be nice if she could have something from me. I saw it in a shop window two months after I found out I was pregnant. I wanted to give it to her adoptive parents so she could have something to remember me by," I explain. "But when the time came, I couldn't give them the bear because I had spent the last few months telling myself that this would be Beth's teddy so it's stupid but I couldn't part with it because in my mind it was the only thing I had of my daughter, even though she never had it. It was meant to remind her of me but every time I look at it, it reminds me of her. Not that I need a memory of her but…"

"I know what you mean," Rachel says. "Do you know where she is?"

I shake my head at her question. "I had her in Florida so she might still be there but I don't know." I look away from her. "It was a closed adoption, she can find me when she's eighteen if she wants but I can't seek her out."

"Do you want to?" I shake my head once more. "Why not?"

"I don't want her to be disappointed in me like I was in my parents."

"You're not your parents Quinn and you don't know that Beth will be disappointed in you." Rachel brushes some of my bangs out of my face. "Don't think like that."

"I guess if I do find out, it won't be for another seven years," I reply, pulling away from Rachel and standing up. "We should really head downstairs, I've already made us late."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," she replies, mimicking my actions and standing up. "I'm glad you told me."

"So am I." I grab her hand and tether our fingers together. "I've told you everything about me, no more secrets Rach."

"And I'm still here." Rachel stands a little on her tip-toes and kisses me briefly before walking to the door and opening it, tugging me along gently. "I told you I wasn't going anywhere. You're stuck with me."

"I like the sound of that," I whisper the words but I could have shouted them because Rachel heard me regardless of the volume of my voice.

"Me too."

* * *

><p>"Now that Rachel and Quinn have decided to join us, what does everybody want to drink? We've got pretty much everything," Kurt asks as he peruses his liquor cabinet, pulling out several bottles and studying them, placing some back into the cabinet and some on top of it.<p>

"I'm going to stick to orange juice," Rachel says walking to the fridge.

I follow her dotingly. "Why don't you have a proper drink, let loose a bit?" I look to the side in thought for a second. "Come to think of it, I've never actually seen you drink, do you drink? You're not teetotal are you? A recovering alcoholic?"

She pours herself a glass of orange juice. "None of the above," she replies. "I hosted a party in high school which was my first time experiencing alcohol and I realised that I liked it. The next day we had a Glee performance and to calm people's nerves, I gave everybody a concoction of my own creation. During the song Brittany threw on me and I have to admit that being thrown up on kind of ruins alcohol for a person. I haven't really drunk since but I'm not teetotal because I'm open to drinking, I just choose not to most of the time. I do have the odd glass of champagne at celebrations," she says taking a sip of her drink. "Even when you offered in the bar I only had lemonade."

I allow my mind to go back to the first time we met and she's right. I offered her an alcoholic drink but she had stuck with lemonade.

"That's a shame because I think you'd make an adorable drunk." I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "If you were to drink, and that's only if, I'd look after you and make sure nobody threw up on you. I'll make sure Brittany gives you a wide berth too."

She laughs softly. "Quinn Fabray, are you pressurising me?" She replies lightly and I can tell she's not serious.

I wrap my arms around her waist and she stumbles forward ever so slightly. "Don't be ridiculous, I would never want to pressure you in to doing anything," I say seriously, making sure she knows that, even though I know her question was asked in a playful manner. "I just want to see what a drunken Rachel Berry looks like and in case you're wondering, yes, I do have an ulterior motive."

"What's that?" She asks, intrigued.

I bring my mouth close to her ear and whisper the words. "Drunken sex is amazing and I think that drunken sex with you will be mind blowing." I tug her earlobe between my teeth before releasing it and she hums in content.

She swallows nervously before patting me on both shoulders, silently telling me to release my hold on her. I oblige and she hands me her orange juice. "Well in that case, I'll just have the one." I beam at her and give her a chaste kiss on her lips. I'm about to head over to Kurt to change Rachel's orange juice into vodka and orange juice when she speaks again. "Just so you know, for future reference, you can't always use sex as a way to get want you want."

I lean closer to her, my mouth inches away from hers. "I beg to differ," I reply playfully before placing a kiss on her forehead.

* * *

><p>"I have an announcement to make," Brittany shouts over the music. Her body is swaying to the music whilst Santana admires her girlfriend from her seat on the floor. Brittany comes to a stop in front of her girlfriend and holds out her hands for Santana to take. Brittany pulls her up and remains surprisingly steady even though the Latina crashes into her. "This morning, Santana proposed to me!"<p>

The living room goes silent as Kurt switches the music off. "You two are getting married!" He squeals with excitement, almost spilling his drink in the process. "That is fantastic, I was wondering how long it would take for Satan to pop the question."

I'm surprised that Santana doesn't react to his nickname for her. But when I look at her, she hasn't removed her eyes from Brittany's. I'm not even sure she heard what Kurt said. Brittany kisses her passionately and immediately I feel like I'm intruding on a personal moment. I look away but nobody else seems bothered and I gather that they are used to their public displays of affection. A round of applause and cheers fill the living room before Brittany requests that the music is turned back on so she and Santana can dance. Kurt obliges and Brittany shrieks before wrapping her arms around Santana and slowly dancing with her.

"Told you it would be their wedding next," Rachel says louder than I would like into my ear, slurring her words ever so slightly. "I know everything."

I laugh at how drunk she is. She didn't stick to her 'I'll just have the one' and kept asking me if I could get her another drink. Although she's only had a few, clearly not properly drinking for years has made her body less tolerant to the effects of alcohol. Or maybe she was always a light weight. I take a sip of my own drink, jack and coke, my personal favourite. I can feel the effects of it on my own body but unlike Rachel, I can handle my drink so if anything, I'm only slightly tipsy. "I guess you do."

"Tell me you'll come to their wedding with me."

I wrap my arm securely around her waist preventing her from swaying on the spot. "Just tell me when and I'm there," I reply, placing a kiss on her temple. She sighs in content and snuggles into my side.

Santana lands on the flood beside us with a thud, a giggling Brittany by her side. They're engaging in a strange conversation which doesn't seem to involve many words but every so often, one of them will laugh at the other. Brittany kisses her fiancée before being dragged away by Kurt, Mercedes and Tina. I feel Rachel move away from me as she stands to follow the quartet.

"Congratulations," I say as Santana downs her drink.

She gives me a small smile. "Thanks." She leaves my side to get another drink before returning. "I've never seem her so happy. I should have proposed years ago."

"How did you do it?"

Santana ducks her head momentarily. "I just asked her this morning after sex," she says quietly and I remember how Brittany had whispered something into Santana's ear this morning before Santana replied saying not now. Had it been this? Did Brittany want to tell Rachel and me this morning? "I was just thinking about our conversation last night and it just came out. It's not how I planned it or anything but she didn't seem to mind. She said yes before I even finished asking the question."

"What about our conversation last night?"

She shrugs her shoulders lightly. "Just seeing you so wound up because of your feelings for Berry, seeing how much you cared for her, how much you loved her. It made me realise that I love Brittany and I want to spend the rest of my life with her so why wait? Why not propose to her?"

"Glad I could be of assistance."

"You proposed to her in bed!" Rachel falls into my lap with a giggle. "In bed, that is so you Santana."

Mercedes shouts her approval of the proposal from the other side of the room whilst Tina retells Kurt about Mike proposed to her. Surprisingly Santana doesn't seem to mind. "I don't do the whole romantic gesture thing and everybody knows that." She turns to look at Rachel who is making herself comfortable in my lap. "How did you manage to get Berry drunk? I tried constantly through high school but she always said no, I'm not being thrown up on again."

"She promised me sex," Rachel shouts and everybody eyes fall to Rachel and me before they return to their conversations. My cheeks fill with a pink tint but Rachel is oblivious to the fact that everybody just heard her. "You're cute when you blush."

Santana bursts out laughing at Rachel's declaration before Brittany calls her over. She stands up and casts a final glance at me and Rachel. "The more time I spend with you, the more I like you Quinn."

Rachel turns to look at me and kisses me on the lips. "She likes you!" Rachel exclaims. "Do you want to know a secret?"

"Always," I reply warmly, enjoying the closeness we are sharing and how natural it is.

"I like you too."

"I don't think that's a secret Rachel, I knew that you liked me."

She shakes her head furiously. "No, you don't understand how much I like you; I really, really like you Quinn."

"I really like you too but you are very drunk."

"It's your fault," she says as she smacks me in the shoulder gently.

"I do apologise," I pout lovingly at her.

"You're forgiven." She takes my bottom lip between her teeth before releasing it. "I'm going to go sing," she tells me before leaving my lap and heading over to the karaoke machine. Seconds later the song 'Don't You Want Me Baby' plays throughout the room and Rachel starts singing, beckoning Kurt to join her.

"She sang this during Glee Club with Blaine," Brittany says as she sits beside me.

"She's an amazing singer," I reply. Brittany nods in agreement. "Congratulations on the engagement."

Brittany beams at me. "I was wondering when she'd get around to proposing, I always knew that she would and that she wanted to be the one who proposed so I waited until she was ready and it feels so good to call her my fiancée." Brittany watches as Santana dances in a drunken fashion with Mercedes and Tina. "Are you going to ask Rachel to marry you?"

I choke a little on my drink. "It's much too early to be thinking about that."

"Why?" Brittany asks. "When you know you know, isn't that what Rachel said about you the other day?" Rachel had said that but I had thought that she was lying to make our relationship seem more real and romantic. When I look at her, I can imagine her being my wife and I've never done that before. Maybe she's right, maybe when you know you know. "I knew that Santana would be the person I married when we first met. It just took us a while to get there."

"I think it will take us a while to get there too," I tell her and she doesn't probe any further. "I'm going to drag Rachel away from the microphone before she stays up there all night and I don't get to spend time with her."

"That's a good idea because I want to sing with San and Rachel always steals the microphone from us."

I smile at the blonde before walking towards Rachel. "Dance with me?" I ask, interrupting Rachel mid song.

She glares at me briefly for interrupting her before her glare is replaced with a drunken smile and she takes my hand and steps away from the microphone. Brittany immediately grabs her girlfriend's hand and runs towards the now free microphone. Santana follows her, slightly dazed at the sudden movement.

Rachel places her arms around my neck and I wrap mine around her waist. "Do you want to get married?"

"Is that a proposal?"

My breath hitches for a second. "No…I meant in general…like in the future…"

"Take a breath Quinn, I was joking," she says. "Yeah."

"Thanks for that insightful answer," I joke.

"It's a yes or no question Quinn," she replies, raising her eyebrow at me. "I answered yes."

"Do you want to be with me?"

"Yeah."

I sigh quietly. "Can you give me a bit more than that?"

Rachel brings her gaze to meet mine, her eyes slowly closing and opening. "I want to be your girlfriend." She smiles lazily at me. "Properly though, not pretend."

Rachel stumbles a little in my arms and I tighten my hold on her. We're not really dancing; I don't think we ever really were. I'm just holding her and we're swaying a little from side to side whilst Kurt, Mercedes and Tina dance around us. "Does that mean you're my girlfriend?"

Rachel shakes her head. "You have to ask me properly," she says quietly so that nobody can hear. "But wait until I'm sober because I'm seeing two of you and I don't know which one of you is the real Quinn."

"Are you okay?"

"I think I'm drunk," she slurs, tugging her bottom lip between her teeth. "Are you drunk?"

I can't help but laugh at her. I was right, she is an adorable drunk. "No I'm not drunk; I needed to be alert because I wanted to make sure nobody threw up on you."

"I think you have a problem then," she whispers. "Because I might throw up on myself."

"You won't, I'll look after you," I kiss her forehead and she drops her arms from my neck so she can tether our fingers together.

"Thank you Quinn."

* * *

><p>Rachel's hands run up and down my back impatiently, tugging at the bottom of my top. "Take this off."<p>

Rachel and I had left the bachelor party about fifteen minutes ago because Rachel couldn't keep her eyes open for much longer. Trying to get her upstairs when she was drunk and half asleep proved to be a lot more difficult than I ever imagined. It didn't help that she kept trying to lie down on the stairs to go to sleep.

I take her hands in mine before placing them by her side. "Please stay still Rachel," I plead as I try to remove her makeup with a cleansing wipe. She obliges and I throw the wipe into the trash can when I'm finished. "I think you need to go to bed baby."

"But you promised me drunken sex," she pouts.

"I know I did but you're too drunk right now, I don't want to take advantage of you." I step behind her and unzip her dress, allowing her to remove it. She pulls the dress down before stepping out of it so she's just in her underwear and turns to face me.

"You wouldn't be taking advantage, I want this," she says adamantly as her eyes slowly close before she snaps them open.

"Even if that's true, you can barely keep your eyes open. Lie down and go to sleep."

She pouts at me and looks like she's about to argue some more but shrugs her shoulders. "Stay with me," she says quietly. "In the bed not over there." She points aimlessly towards the left of the room, trying to point at the couch.

"I will," I tell her. "Do you want your pyjamas? She shakes her head and climbs into bed. "I'll just get changed and then I'll come to bed." She mumbles something incoherently before closing her eyes.

I chuckle softly at her before disappearing into the bathroom to get ready for bed. I can hear her moving about in the bed, trying to get comfortable before silence falls. I brush my teeth quickly before ridding myself of my makeup and removing my clothes so I'm just in my underwear as well. When I come back into the room, she's fast asleep and snoring quietly. I can't help the smile which appears at the sight of her. I climb into bed beside her and wrap my arm around her waist pulling her closer to me. She sighs contently at my actions and I smile into the back of her neck.

"That feels good." Her voice is quiet and filled with sleep.

"Go back to sleep babe."

She murmurs something in response but after several minutes her breathing levels out and I can tell that she's fallen back asleep. In the past, this would have sc ared the hell out of me, being this close to somebody but with Rachel, it just feels right.

"Rachel?" I whisper her name to check that she is asleep and when she doesn't reply, I get my answer. "I love you."

I release a sigh of relief as I voice my feelings out loud for the first time. I know she didn't hear them but it's a step in the right direction. I close my eyes and wait for sleep to come.

Unsurprisingly, with Rachel in my arms, I fall asleep straight away.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: These characters belong to the creators of Glee, I own nothing. If I did, Faberry would most definitely be a couple.

Authors Note: Thank you for all the reviews and story alerts, I really appreciate them :) We're back to Rachel's perspective now. To answer Nightlancer600, no, I won't be including Shelby in this story because there are only a couple of chapters left including this one and I never imagined her in this story. I mention some myths at the end of this chapter; most of the information comes from the internet so correct me if it's wrong :) Also this chapter may be a bit rushed but I wanted to get something up! Hope you all enjoy and as usual, all mistakes are mine.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 12:<strong>

I can feel her arm around me when I wake up. She's holding me tightly, looking after me like she promised, even as I slept. I open my eyes before closing them suddenly at the brightness of the room. Sunlight is not my friend right now. I can feel a wave of nausea hit me before I manage to suppress it. I squeeze my eyes shut even tighter as I focus for the first time on the pain in my head.

Now I know why I don't really drink.

Quinn's arm tightens around me and I can hear her breathing quicken ever so slightly. I roll over, eyes still closed to avoid the brightness of our room. Quinn kisses me on the forehead and I allow my eyes to lazily open. She's staring at me innocently, a wide spread smile on her face.

Even in the morning she looks perfect, not a hair out of place. I touch my own hair, feeling it sticking up in several places. I pat it down quickly and Quinn laughs at my actions before brushing my hand away from my hair, quietly admonishing me for being silly.

"You look so beautiful in the morning," she tells me and even though I flush, I instantly feel a wave of relief flood through me. I'm always self-conscious in the morning, bed hair and no makeup. Constantly waking up with lines across my face from the awkward way I slept. "But then that's not a surprise because you always look beautiful." She kisses me quickly and my heart soars at her sweetness.

"You're such a charmer Quinn Fabray."

Quinn brushes some of my hair out of my eyes. "Only with you." She kisses me once again before cupping my cheek. "Good morning."

"Good morning." I find her fingers underneath the duvet and knot them together with mine. "You stayed with me."

"You missed your calling babe, you should have been a detective," she jests. "Nothing gets past you does it?"

I laugh softly, kicking her foot gently with mine. "Even in the morning you're as sarcastic as ever."

Quinn shuffles closer to me, resting her forehead against mine. "Sorry," she says quietly. "I've never done the morning after cuddle before."

"If it's any consolation, you're doing great," I tell her with a smile. "What made you stay with me?"

"You asked me to."

"I did?"

Quinn chuckles softly to herself. "Let me guess, you can't remember much about last night."

"I remember drinking."

This time Quinn laughs louder, heartily. The memory of drinking causes my nauseous feeling to resurface and I can feel vomit rising in my throat. Quinn's eyes narrow suddenly in worry and she frowns at me as I clamp my hand to my mouth and jump out of bed. I run towards the bathroom, slamming the door behind me. I throw up just as I reach the toilet and I'm thankful that I made it.

"Baby?" Quinn knocks on the door immediately. I can't help but love the fact that she is giving me privacy even though she probably doesn't want to. I know she'll come in eventually but I'm grateful that she didn't just walk straight in. I'm sure I don't look beautiful anymore. "Are you okay?" I go to answer her but vomit once more before I can. "I'm coming in."

Quinn doesn't wait for an answer and I hear her open the door before she kneels beside me. One hand starts rubbing soft circles on my back whilst the other grabs my hair into a makeshift ponytail, ensuring that it is out of my face.

She continues to rub circles on my back as I begin to unpleasantly dry heave, having nothing left in my stomach to actually throw up. After a few minutes I raise my head from the toilet bowl. Quinn instantly hands me some toilet paper so I can wipe my mouth. I thank her and sit back against the bathroom wall, still within reaching distance of the toilet.

"Feel any better beautiful?"

I frown at her slightly. "Don't try and charm me when I've just been sick and you don't mean it."

"Who says I'm trying to charm you?" Quinn replies, shifting so she is sitting beside me. "And why do you think I don't mean it?"

"I've just been sick Quinn and I look awful."

"There you go again with the detective work." She smiles and entwines our fingers. "But you best start believing me when I say you're beautiful because you are." Her words are filled with sincerity and there's not one part of me that doubts she means them all. I blush and her smile widens when she sees that her words have had the desired effect. "You never answered my question."

"I feel awful."

"That's a hangover for you," Quinn says unsympathetically but when I look at her, her eyes are glistening with playfulness.

"I hate you right now," I moan.

Quinn kisses my temple. "I know you do, but your feelings of hatred towards me will disappear when your hangover does."

"How come you're not suffering?"

"I didn't drink as much as you besides…" she bumps my hip gently. "I can handle my drink."

"I'm not drinking that much ever again."

"The amount of times I've said that when I've had a hangover but I've never stuck to it," she says. "Although something tells me you probably will stick to it."

"I hate being sick."

"Doesn't everybody?"

A natural silence falls over us and although my stomach has settled, I don't attempt to leave the bathroom floor and I'm glad that Quinn's here. Quinn strokes the back of my hand with the pad of her thumb in a comforting manner and my eyes flicker shut briefly at the contact before I open them again. Although she doesn't stop her ministrations and it doesn't take long for my eyes to close once more and I can feel myself drifting off. The only sound I can hear before I succumb to sleep is her quiet breathing.

"Rachel?" Quinn nudges my knee gently and my eyes snap open to see the blonde kneeling in front of me, staring at me. "I got you a glass of water and found you some Advil." She reaches behind her and grabs the glass of water, handing it to me before giving me the Advil.

I take the Advil before washing them down with a mouthful of water. "When did you get these?"

"Just then," she explains. "I started talking to you and after a few seconds I realised you'd fallen asleep so I went downstairs to sort this out whilst you were sleeping."

"How long was I asleep?"

She shrugs her shoulders. "Only about five minutes, maybe ten."

"Sorry," I apologise and duck my head.

"No need to apologise," she says. "Although you did miss some of my tantalising conversation but I'm sure I'll survive." I laugh before taking another sip of water. "Are you feeling any better?"

I nod my head. "My head is still really painful but I don't feel like I'm going to throw up anymore so that's always good," I joke.

"Do you want to go back to the bedroom then? There's something I want to talk to you about and I'd rather not do it on the bathroom floor."

"Sounds serious," I say but Quinn doesn't answer. "I'll just brush my teeth and I'll be out." She smiles and kisses my forehead before disappearing.

Well if she's still being affectionate then whatever she has to talk to me about can't be that bad can it? Did I say something to her last night? My eyes widen as I try to remember the events of last night, I can't really remember anything after Brittany announced that she and Santana were engaged. What if I said something to Quinn and I've scared her off? What if I told her how I felt? What if I told her that I'm in love with her?

It only hit me yesterday that I was in love with her. I know I thought that I might already love her but when she told me about her parents, her past and Beth, I realised that there was no question about it.

I'm in love with her.

The fact that she was so scared I would run away made my heart drop because I've never seen her so afraid. The fact that she trusted me enough to tell me things she's never told anybody just made me aware of these feelings that I've kept hidden because I didn't want to ruin whatever Quinn and I had.

But now I want more and although I'm pretty sure she does too, what if I've got the wrong end of the stick and she doesn't want a relationship with me.

I shake the thoughts out of my head and start brushing my teeth, removing the stale taste of vomit from my mouth. I shouldn't worry about what she wants to talk about because I could be completely wrong and worrying for nothing. I should just wait and see. Although that doesn't stop my heart from beating even faster and my palms becoming sweaty.

I spit the toothpaste into the sink and gargle with some mouth wash before returning to the bedroom. Quinn is sitting on the couch in the corner of the room, eyes closed. When she hears my footsteps she opens her eyes and looks directly at me, giving me a smile which fills her face. She pats the seat beside her and I walk towards her, taking the available seat.

"You look like you're walking to your death," Quinn points out as I settle beside her. Her hand comes to rest on my thigh. "Are you worried?"

"A little bit," I reply honestly. "I don't know what this is about."

"The fear of the unknown, probably one of the most powerful fears," Quinn says quietly. "You don't need to be worried Rachel, okay?" I nod at her question and she shuffles closer to me. "What do you remember about last night? Aside from drinking."

"Not much," I shrug my shoulders. "Just bits and pieces, I remember Brittany telling us she and Santana were engaged and I vaguely remember you saying something to me before I went to sleep but I don't know what."

Quinn looks from side to side quickly. "You told me last night that you wanted to be with me. As in a proper relationship rather than this pretence we've created."

"That seems like something I should have remembered. I'm sorry that I can't," I apologise.

"Don't apologise," she warns quickly. "Only apologise if you didn't mean it."

"I meant it," I tell her. "I've been thinking about our situation ever since we came here on Monday. You were right, the dynamics changed as soon as I asked you to come." She's listening to me intently, waiting for me to continue. "I think I've always felt something for you but I ignored it because we agreed not to involve feelings but I always had them. This week our relationship has become exactly that, a relationship, even if the foundation of it was a lie and it's made me accept my feelings for you. So yes Quinn, I meant it when I said that I wanted to be with you. I want us to try a relationship but I don't know how you feel about that."

Quinn's tongue darts out to lick her lips but she doesn't speak for several seconds. "I spent so many years being single and just sleeping around that I never thought I'd want more than that. Then I met you." She rolls her eyes playfully. "That sounds like a total cliché but it's true. You make me somebody I never expected to be, somebody better. You made me trust you enough to open up to you and you don't even realise that you're doing it. You're just you and I love that." The corners of my mouth threaten to curl up as she mentioned the word love. "You won't remember but last night after you said you wanted to be with me, I asked you if that meant you were my girlfriend and you said no." I furrow my eyebrows at her statement. "You said I had to ask you properly."

I can feel colour fill my cheeks. "Ever the dramatist," I joke and she laughs.

"I don't really know what I'm meant to say," she admits. "Now I know why I've never done this," she laughs a little at her own joke but I'm too busy waiting for her to ask me to laugh. "Will you be my girlfriend?" She asks, tugging her bottom lip between her teeth nervously. "Is that the normal thing to say? It sounds really formal and I know it's not really a romantic way of asking and I'm sure it's not what you expected but at least it wasn't on the bathroom floor. There's always a silver lining isn't there…"

"You're babbling," I say, interrupting her nervous ramble. I tether our fingers together and the simple gesture seems to put her at ease. "I don't think there is a normal thing to say, I guess whatever you say in the moment becomes the right thing."

"That hasn't answered the initial question," she points out, biting down on her bottom lip.

"I quite like seeing you all nervous because of me," I joke but she doesn't smile. "I would love to be your girlfriend Quinn." Quinn's eyes widen in surprise, like she wasn't expecting the answer. Even after everything I've just said, what I told her last night, she looks like she was still worried that I would say no. "Did you think I would say no?"

She shakes her head. "I didn't want to automatically presume that you would say yes." She looks down at our hands. "I have a girlfriend," she breathes out. "That's new."

"Enjoy it while it lasts because in a few months you might get sick of me," I say playfully although that doesn't stop doubt from surfacing in the pit of my stomach.

Quinn leans closer to me and captures my lips with her own in a short kiss before pecking my nose. "I can't imagine ever getting sick of somebody who makes me a better person. It's taken me too long to realise what I want, now I have, I'm not letting you go. Is that alright with you?"

I open my mouth to answer her but I can't form any words. This Quinn, this romantic, sweet Quinn is one I've only witnessed a few times but every time I do, it makes my hear soar. Part of me wonders whether the closed-off, short-tempered Quinn will continue to make appearances but for now, I'll not worry about the future and instead I'll happily agree with what Quinn has just said.

* * *

><p>Quinn and I spent most of the day in our room, enjoying the first day of our proper relationship. Although we've been acting like a couple for the past three days, actually being a couple feels instantly different. There are no worries about people seeing through the pretence, although that never seemed to be the case in the first place.<p>

Maybe nobody saw through the pretence because it wasn't pretend after all.

"What are you thinking about?" Quinn asks as everybody finishes eating their dinner.

We'd come down to eat about half an hour ago and Santana gave us knowing looks, silently telling us she knows what we've been doing in our bedroom all day but she couldn't be more wrong. We did nothing more than talk and steal the odd kiss every now and again. It feels like I'm a teenager experiencing my first relationship, all the butterflies and goose bumps I get whenever Quinn touches me.

Although for Quinn, this is her first relationship so I guess she's feeling the same.

Or at least I hope she is feeling the same way as me.

"Us," I say and she kisses my temple.

"Me too," she replies before falling back into conversation with Tina and Mike.

I glance at Finn from across the table and he gives me a shy wave. I return the wave and it seems to appease him, at least now he knows that I don't hate him. He stands from the table and walks towards me. Quinn must sense his movement because her hand is in mine automatically, almost as if she's trying to protect me by just holding my hand.

"Can we talk?" He asks as he nervously hovers to the side of me. Quinn's hand instinctively tightens around mine and I gently wince at the sudden pressure. She must hear me because she softly apologises before loosening her grip on my hand. "In private."

"Do you really think I'm going to let you talk in private after what happened last time?" Quinn spits at him.

"Quinn," I warn softly and she brings her gaze to me but I can't work out what expression she is trying to convey.

"This is between me and Rachel," Finn bites back and I warn him as well about his tone.

"That might be the case but Rachel is my girlfriend so that means I'm involved whether you like it or not."

"Whatever you've got to say Finn you can say it in front of Quinn."

He sighs out of frustration. "Well can we go to a different room so nobody else hears?"

"Finn, I'm in the middle of eating, if you want to say something, say it," I say and I'm aware that I'm making it more difficult for him but I'm still annoyed at his behaviour on Tuesday night.

Finn huffs quietly but nods his head anyway. "I just wanted to apologise for what happened the other night."

"When you tried to kiss my girlfriend," Quinn interjects and I shoot her a warning glare, silently telling her to be quiet.

Finn ignores Quinn's comment and focuses his attention solely on me. "I'd been drinking and I didn't know what I was doing," he explains. "I regretted it straight away and I can't believe that I tried to kiss you. It's just…I was in shock, finding out that you were with her."

"I do have a name," Quinn says but her statement falls on deaf ears.

"You have no idea how sorry I am."

I nod my head, processing everything he has to say whilst both Finn and Quinn wait for me to say something in return. "I accept your apology Finn but you and I both know that you can't blame this on the drink. You wanted to kiss me because you want me back and that's not going to happen. I'm with Quinn and I'm happy. You can blame the drink for making you brave enough to try but it wasn't the drink that made you want to kiss me, that was your own feelings."

"I know I fucked things up," he says quietly. "Are we okay or have I ruined things between us?"

"If it was me, you'd be gone," Quinn mumbles under her breath but I hear her and nudge her in the hip.

"You haven't ruined things between us; we're still friends as long as you accept that I'm in a relationship. I'm not going to get back together with you," I answer him. "But maybe it's best if you just give us some space today and tomorrow."

He looks like he wants to argue but Quinn glares at him and he surrenders. "I am sorry Rachel," he says solemnly as he walks back to his seat.

"You could have been nicer."

Quinn shrugs her shoulders. "I couldn't, I'm a jealous person."

I peck her cheek and her tenseness dissipates at the action. "There's nothing to be jealous about."

* * *

><p>"Come with me," Quinn says as she grabs my hands.<p>

"But Quinn, everybody's about to watch a movie," I protest but don't make any attempt to stop her leading me.

"This won't take long," she throws the words over her shoulder. "Trust me, you'll like it."

I don't say anything else and follow her dotingly as she leads me through Kurt and Blaine's house. She opens the front door with her free hand and tugs me outside, closing the door over behind her.

"What are we doing outside?"

"You said you wanted to stargaze so here we are," she explains, wrapping her arms around my waist. "We finally have some free time when it's dark enough to see the stars."

My heart swells in adoration at her, not only because of the sweet gesture but also because she remembered what I'd say about wanting to see the stars because they must look so beautiful. "You're unequivocally romantic aren't you?"

"Only with you," she says, repeating her statement from this morning.

I stare up at the sky and seeing all the stars scattered in the sky really is a beautiful sight. "I never get to stargaze at my apartment," I tell her. "Too many lights." Kurt and Blaine's house is more secluded than my apartment so there are fewer lights to interfere with the night sky. "I've always wanted to know all their names because their stories are fascinating but I don't."

"I know a couple of them," Quinn says.

"Could you show me?"

"Of course," she says, pulling away from me a bit but keeping her hands on my waist so she can spin me around. Once I'm in the right direction, she points towards the night sky. "That group of stars, shaped like a W is Cassiopeia."

"Do you know the stories too?"

"For some." Quinn nods. "Cassiopeia was a beautiful Queen, who boasted about her beauty, angering the sea god Poseidon. The only way for her parents to appease Poseidon was to sacrifice their daughter. As a way to punish Cassiopeia, Poseidon placed her in the heavens, tied to a throne for all eternity. She's also a circumpolar constellation."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that you can always see her throughout the year. Depending on the angle, she can either look like a W or an M. Poseidon's punishment meant that half of the year, Cassiopeia must sit upside down on her throne. A truly unattractive pose for somebody who boasted about their beauty."

"What else?" I ask intrigued. Just when I think I know Quinn, she does something like this which surprises me.

"There's Perseus." Quinn states. "He became a Greek hero because he killed Medusa, have you heard of Medusa?"

"Yeah, if you looked at her you turned to stone."

Quinn nods. "Well he has a constellation except you can only see him in autumn so he's not in the sky right now." Quinn spins me round and points to the night sky again. "Do you see that constellation over there? The four stars that almost form the shape of a diamond." I try my hardest but I can't make out the area that Quinn is describing so I shake my head. "They're near that really bright star." Quinn redirects my gaze and I finally see what she is talking about. "The constellation is Lyra and the bright star is Vega."

"Vega?"

"It forms part of the summer triangle alongside Altair and Deneb," Quinn explains.

"How do you know these?"

Quinn shrugs slowly. "I used to star gaze with my dad when I was little, he taught me about a different constellation every time."

"That sounds like fun." I reply, knowing how Quinn feels about her father.

"It was." Quinn falls silent and momentarily looks happy as she reminisces.

"Is that why you have a tattoo of a star?"

Quinn doesn't stop me as I reach around her neck and finger the nape of her neck where her tattoo lies. She nods her head. "I wanted a good memory to replace all the bad ones."

I place my hand next to hers and link my pinkie with hers. Whenever Brittany and Santana used to do it, it always seemed to have a calming influence without being as grand a gesture as holding hands. Quinn looks down at our exchanged pinkies and a small smile fills her face. Although Quinn told me about her parents and how she hates her father, that only happened when she was 16. Before that, she probably had a happy childhood, a childhood which was cruelly ended when she was catapulted into adulthood at the age of 16.

"Before everything happened with your parents, were you happy growing up?"

"Yeah I was. I looked up to my parents and when I was young, they doted on me and I loved that," she says sadly. "But instead of dwelling on the bad memories, I like to think of the times when I was happy with them." She sighs heavily. "Like when I used to stargaze with my dad, or when he first read me To Kill a Mockingbird or when my mom used to take me shopping."

"You didn't tell me your dad read that book to you," I say. "Is that why it's your favourite?"

"It's amongst the reasons I've already told you," she replies. "I have a copy of it back home that he gave me when I was fourteen. It's a first edition and it's probably my favourite thing I've ever been given. It's really worn because I read it so much."

"I'm glad you were happy Quinn."

She turns to look at me, a ghost of a smile on her lips. "I'm happy now."

"Me too."

She looks at me for several minutes, not saying anything before she inhales quickly and looks back to the night sky. "Do you want to know the myth which surrounds Lyra?"

"Yeah."

"Orpheus, son of Apollo and Calliope, was a brilliant musician. He played the lyre, a harp, which his father gave him and whenever he played it, he had the ability to charm anybody with his music. He married the nymph Eurydice," Quinn explains and I hadn't even noticed that her fingers had entirely found mine. I smile at the contact. "Sadly his wife died after being bitten by a snake. Orpheus was devastated understandably and he sought to get his wife back from the underworld."

I observe Quinn's face as she tells me the story. The way her eyes light up a little as she speaks and the way her lips curl up into a smile as she stares at the stars.

Quinn brings her gaze to meet mine. "Since you love Harry Potter so much, I have a little titbit for you," she says. "As you'll know, Harry Potter had to lull Fluffy to sleep to get to the philosophers stone but Orpheus did the same. He had to lull Cerberus, the guard dog of the Underworld to sleep in order to get past him."

"Really?"

Quinn nods. "The music lulled the guard dog to sleep so he could enter the underworld. He also charmed Hades, the god of the underworld, with his music and as a result of the enchanting music, Hades agreed to give him his wife back. Now Hades didn't let anybody leave the underworld but because of the music, he agreed as long as Orpheus didn't look back on his journey back to Earth."

Quinn strokes the back of my hand with her thumb. "Did he?"

Quinn nods again. "Just before their journey finished and he lost his wife forever," she says. "He wanted to make sure that his wife was still following her and that she was okay. He just wanted to make sure that his wife was safe and in doing that, he lost her." Quinn turns to face me. "I like the message the myth holds. It makes me understand why my mom stayed with my dad after everything he did to her."

"Why? What's the message?"

Quinn leans closer to me. "Love is a great weakness."

"Is that why you don't let yourself fall for people?"

Quinn's lips hover over mine; I can feel her breath tickle my bottom lip. "Maybe that was the reason in the past. Or maybe I just hadn't found the right person."

I shake my head. "One of the first things I figured out about you was that you have to be in control. Now I think you're too used to being in control that you don't want to surrender it to anybody because if you do, you're afraid that you'll show weakness."

"You're wrong." Quinn moves even closer to my lips. "I surrendered it to you ages ago."

"When?"

"The minute I first met you in the bar, any control I had disappeared around you." She rests her forehead against mine. "It scares me that I'm not in control anymore; these feelings scare me because I've never had them before."

"What feelings?"

"You honestly can't tell?" I shake my head at her question and she shifts her gaze so that she is looking directly into my eyes. Her gaze is so intense and so honest at the same time. "I'm in love with you Rachel."


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: These characters belong to the creators of Glee, I own nothing. If I did, Faberry would most definitely be a couple.

Authors Note: Thank you for all the reviews and story alerts, I really appreciate them :) This is the final chapter of the story so I want to thank everybody who has read this and either reviewed or put this story in their alerts and/or favourites. I found it incredibly difficult to finish this story which is why there is a big jump between Thursday night and the wedding and also why this chapter took longer than usual to write. As usual all mistakes are mine! Thank you once again and I hope you enjoy the final chapter. I also hope you've enjoyed the entire story

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 13:<strong>

They say that actions speak louder than words but I've found that sometimes, that isn't the case. It isn't always possible for that to be the case. When you want somebody to know that you love them, you could show them but until they hear the actual words, there will always be some doubt. In the case of love, words speak louder than actions.

At least for me.

Finn was the first person I fell in love with and until Quinn, the only person I've fell in love with. Although I loved Rob and I said the words 'I love you' to him, I was never in love with him.

At least not really.

The first time I told Finn that I loved him; we were practicing our duet for Glee Club. Our duet would be the opening number for Nationals and I wanted it to be perfect so that we could claim victory and bring a trophy back to school. He was singing to me and I felt like he meant the words he was singing, he wasn't just singing them for the song. Everything between us became simple and natural in that moment and the words came out before I could even think about them. I can still remember how his eyes lit up but he didn't say the words back, at least not then. He just smiled and kissed me, almost as if he hoped the kiss would make me forget that I had put my heart on the line and he hadn't returned the favour. Two weeks later he told me that he loved me too but I can't pretend that it didn't hurt me when he didn't say it straight back.

When I dated Rob, I was the first to say I love you once again. Although, unlike Finn, he said it straight back. However, I couldn't help but wish he had said it first so I didn't have to. With Finn, I had put my heart out there for him to take or destroy but with Rob, I didn't worry about him destroying my heart because I knew he was in love with me.

For him, actions spoke louder than words.

However, no matter how confident you are of the other person's feelings, there is always that element of doubt that the recipient of the words won't feel the same way.

Quinn is the first person I've dated to say I love you first and she didn't just tell me that she loved me; she said she was in love with me. I've always thought that was a better way of telling somebody how you feel. The word 'love' gets tossed around too much nowadays, you tell your parents that you love them and you tell your friends the same thing. But loving somebody and being in love with somebody are two completely different things so my heart swells at her choice of wording.

I can tell the moment she finishes speaking that a weight has been lifted from her shoulders. Like she's wanted to say them for a while, she just hasn't been able to find the right time. If you take into account the scene right now, the picturesque night sky, her fingers entwined with me while the stars shine down on us, it's incredibly romantic and it seems like she really has picked the perfect moment to confess her feelings

Her eyes are boring into mine. She's waiting for me to say something. To do something. I should know how she's feeling; I've been in that situation twice before and I know that the fear of not knowing whether I'm going to say it back must be eating away at her. I want to say something but my mouth has become dry and my heart is pumping the blood around my body at such a rapid pace that I can feel my heart beat in my head.

I wanted her to say those words to me. I wanted her to tell me that she was in love with me so I would know that the feeling is mutual but now it's happened, I'm too shocked to even speak.

Too shocked to tell her I feel the same way.

I guess deep down, I didn't think she would tell me that she was in love with me.

At least not yet.

She gives my fingers a gentle squeeze, silently pleading for me to answer her. My mouth opens and forms the perfect 'o' but no words come out.

"I shouldn't have said that should I?" She says quietly and her voice is so fragile and broken that my heart breaks for her.

"No, you should have," I reply, finally finding the ability to speak.

"I've freaked you out," she tells me, never once letting go of my hand. "It's it any consolation, I'm freaked out too."

"You are?"

A ghost of a smile forms on her lips. "I've just told you I'm in love with you, the first time I've ever said those words and you just stared at me, in silence," she says. "So yeah, I'd say that I'm a little freaked out."

"My silence wasn't a bad silence," I tell her, squeezing her fingers in comfort. "I was just shocked to hear you say that you felt that level of admiration for me."

"Level of admiration?" She furrows her eyebrows at me, clearly perplexed by my choice of vocabulary. "You can say it you know. You can say that I love you."

"I know..."

"It's okay to not feel the same." Quinn brushes some of my hair behind her ear and the action soothes me. "I know you wanted to be in a relationship with me but I also know that that doesn't mean you're at the same place as me. I think I've loved you for a while now but I understand if you don't feel the same way. I mean, I've been awful to you in the past, short-tempered and impatient. If I'm being honest, I don't expect you to say it back."

"Quinn..."

"Don't worry about it," she says. "You not saying it back isn't going to change my feelings for you. I mean, I'm a little disappointed because I want you to feel the same but I'm not going anywhere so when you're ready..."

My lips connect with hers rapidly, putting an end to her nervous ramble. She smiles into the kiss, her hands coming to rest on my hips. I pull away from her and rest my forehead against hers. Quinn's eyes remain closed in content. "I'm in love with you too Quinn."

"You are?" She doesn't open her eyes, almost as if she's afraid that when she does, this won't be real.

"Open your eyes Quinn," I demand and she soon complies. "I am."

This time it's her who closes the gap and kisses me. She squeezes my hips before pecking my nose lightly, a smile laced on her face. "This week has turned out a lot better than I thought it would."

I chuckle softly. "And to think, you didn't even want to come with me."

* * *

><p>Kurt kisses Blaine as it is pronounced that they are now married and the yard is filled with applause and shouts of delight. Santana brings her fingers to her mouth and releases a sharp, loud whistle before she starts clapping in time with everybody else. Its heart warming that everybody in the yard is just as happy about the marriage as the couple themselves.<p>

Like everybody knows that they're meant to be.

I always thought that they were soul mates.

Kurt and Blaine make a quick dash down the make-shift carpet which represents an aisle while guests throw confetti over them, a perfect tradition.

It came as no surprise that I cried at the wedding and most of the other women shared my feelings. Mercedes had tears flowing down her cheeks and Tina cried in her usual hysterical fashion. Quinn didn't cry but I hadn't expected her to. She may be a romantic deep down but I don't think she's the kind of person to cry at weddings.

Quinn and I offer our congratulations to the happy couple as they pass us but over the shouts of everybody else, I'm not sure whether they hear us. They've rented a gazebo which covers practically their entire yard to hold the reception. They wanted to get married somewhere they felt comfortable, somewhere that felt like home and they had decided that their own house was the logical choice.

Quinn grabs my hand and starts following the crowd of people who are making their way to the reception but I have other plans. I give her hand a tug, signalling that I want her to stop and gesture towards the house with my head.

"Follow me," I say. "Just for a second."

She doesn't question me and allows me to lead her into the house and up to our bedroom. When I glance over my shoulder, I see that she is following me dotingly and I can't help but love how she didn't question me and just trusted me.

I usher her inside before closing the door over and heading over to the bed.

"Is something wrong?"

I look over my shoulder at her question. "Why would something be wrong?"

She shrugs her shoulders. "You dragged me away from the reception to come up here so there must be a reason."

"Nothing's wrong," I reassure her. "I just wanted to give you something."

"Oh really?" She says, quirking her eyebrow in a sultry manner. Her voice is laced with a flirtatious tone and I can't help but laugh at where her mind automatically goes.

"Not that," I tell her and she sighs playfully in disappointment.

"What then?"

"It's sort of a present although I didn't buy it," I explain as I kneel down to rummage underneath the bed.

"You didn't need to get me anything Rachel."

"I didn't," I reply and confusion overtakes her. I stand back up moments later holding a small box before I hand it to Quinn. "It's not much but I felt the need to wrap it because I like having things to unwrap so I thought you might feel the same."

She grins at me before removing the lid from the box to reveal her teddy bear, Boo. "I don't know whether things are different back in Ohio but giving somebody something they already own isn't classed as a present."

I laugh at her confused expression before I advise her to look in a more scrutinising fashion at the bear. "Turns out Kurt had a needle and thread so I thought I'd fix him up now instead of waiting until we got home. He looks almost as good as new now."

Quinn studies the bear more carefully and her eyes light up as she realises I've fixed him. I'd sewn his ear back on which had been falling off and I had sewn up all the patches of fur which had been ripped over the years. She strokes his fur softly and I knew the bear meant a lot to her but she looks like she's about to cry.

I had no idea that this simple action would touch her so much.

"When did you do this?"

"Yesterday when you were talking to Sam," I explain. "I asked Mercedes to make sure that you stayed downstairs so I could do this without you knowing."

"I know you said that you could fix him but I wasn't going to hold you to that," she tells me, still stroking the bear's fur. "I didn't expect you to do it at all, let alone so quickly."

"It's no bother," I reassure her. "I was happy to do it."

"Thank you," she says and the words come out in a broken whisper.

"You're welcome," I reply, my voice incredibly soft. "Are you crying?"

I can see her eyes watering so I don't know why I asked the question when I already know the answer but she wipes at her eyes furiously before any tears can fall.

"No." She says quickly and I nod, even though we both know she's lying but I don't want to question it anymore. "I can't remember the last time somebody did something this nice for me without me having to ask and even them, this surpasses them all."

"It's hardly much," I state as she scuffs her feet nervously.

"You know that's not true," she whispers. "This really means a lot to me. Because of the state of Boo, I was always worried that one day, he'd fall apart completely, beyond repair and I don't know what I'd do if that happened."

"Well you don't need to worry about that anymore."

"Thank you." This time a tear escapes before Quinn can wipe it away. "So much."

"You don't need to thank me Quinn," I state. "Just seeing how pleased you are is thanks enough."

* * *

><p>I bring my hands together as I join in the round of applause which has begun to circulate as Kurt and Blaine finish their first dance as a married couple. Blaine waves his hand ever so slightly, a signal to everybody else that they need to join the couple on the make-shift dance floor as the next song begins to play. Brittany jumps out of her seat, clearly she had been waiting for that invitation. She drags Santana out of her seat, and the Latina doesn't look anywhere near as excited as her fiancée to be joining the dance floor.<p>

"Who's that?"

Quinn nods her head a little in the direction of my old Glee Club teacher. "That's Mr Schue," I explain but she looks at me in confusion, waiting for a further explanation. "William Schuester," I continue. "He was the Glee Club teacher and I guess you could say, a friend." She bobs her head along with my explanation, telling me that she's listening. "The woman he's sitting with, that's his wife, Emma Schuester, formerly Emma Pillsbury. She was the Guidance Councillor at my high school until she fell pregnant with their first child and then I understand that she took a break from her job for a couple of years. I'm not sure whether she's returned to work or not. She also used to have a strong case of obsessive compulsive disorder and it looks like she still has that," I say as Emma wipes down the cutlery on the table. "I think her disorder was the reason she became a councillor. She knew what it was like to have something you didn't like about yourself, something that you couldn't control, something that no matter how you felt about it, made you who are you are."

"Did you ever go to see her?"

"A few times actually," I tell her and she seems surprised by my answer. "Never for anything serious but I went with Finn a couple of times. I could never understand why he dated me over the more popular girls, over the Cheerios. Emma gave me a pamphlet containing a clever pun but nothing that would help me."

I think my mention of Finn has put an end to this conversation because Quinn doesn't seem to want to talk about my visits to the guidance councillor anymore. Instead she stands and holds her hand out for me to take.

"Dance with me?"

"Always," I answer as I take her hand. She pulls me up in one swift movement, her arm wrapping around my waist right away to steady me. She guides me to the dance floor and wraps her other arm around my waist while I clasp my hands together around her neck. We sway for several minutes, matching the tempo of the song. "You're a good dancer."

She chuckles as she buries her head into the crooks of my neck. "So are you," she replies before she steps back, grabbing my left hand with her right and attempting to spin me around. I move with her but she spins me with too much force and I crash into her, laughing heartily. The smile on her face and the gleam in her eyes tells me that she did that deliberately.

"I've changed my mind," I tell her. "You're not a good dancer."

"I'm hurt." She laughs at me before slowing down our movements to match the tempo of the new song that the band is playing. "Have you ever thought about what song you'll have for you first dance?"

"I've been thinking about my wedding since I was little," I explain. "But I've never been able to pick a song. I guess the song for my first dance will be what my fiancée and I have labelled 'our song'," I continue. "Have you?"

"You are so beautiful," she replies and instinctively I blush, thinking that she has ignored my question and is giving me one of her very generous compliments. She grins at me before kissing me quickly. "That's the song I want as my first dance. The Joe Cocker version." Her grin doesn't disappear as my blush intensifies.

"I knew you were talking about a song," I say, desperately trying to cover my embarrassment but Quinn doesn't seem to mind.

She pecks the tip of my nose. "You're so cute when you blush, do you know that?"

"You have to say that," I reply. "You're my girlfriend."

It's still so new and exciting calling her that and by her expression, I can tell she feels the same. "Just because I'm your girlfriend doesn't make it any less true."

"Why do you want that song?"

Quinn shrugs. "It's always been one of my favourite songs and although I never knew what love felt like before, I guess I expected to feel that way if I loved somebody," she says quietly. "Does that make sense?" I nod my head at her question and she gives me a soft smile. "You're everything I hoped for, you're everything I need," she sings softly before reciting the rest of the song into my ear in a low whisper and I shiver at the closeness of her and the delicate tone of her voice. I can tell she means every word that she is singing and if she wasn't supporting me with her arm, I'm pretty sure my knees would have buckled the moment she started singing.

Quinn finishes singing the song but doesn't take a step back; instead she buries her head into my neck and kisses my pulse point. The band start playing Billy Joel's song 'Just the Way You Are' in the background and it causes Quinn to finally step back. She grabs my left hand with hers, prepared to speed up our movements slightly before we're interrupted.

"May I cut in?"

We both to turn to see Kurt and Blaine standing beside us. Kurt's hand outstretched towards me while Blaine is extending his hand towards Quinn. I take hold of Kurt's hand and we immediately fall into synchronisation, dancing close to Blaine and Quinn before the duo disappears towards the stage.

"You two can't keep your hands off each other."

"Says the newly married man."

"I guess we're both in the honeymoon phase," he says and I murmur my agreement. "Should I expect a wedding invitation in the mail in the future?"

Kurt has never been good at subtlety.

"I suspect the answer to that question will be yes because Brittany and Santana will have to send out their invitations. Unless of course they flee to Vegas and have a quickie wedding," I say. "Something tells me Santana would prefer that."

"She may well prefer Vegas but Brittany will want the white wedding. She told me during my bachelor party that she already had ideas for their wedding."

"That's good because if it was left to Santana, the wedding wouldn't happen. I mean it took her long enough to propose," I reply smirking.

"Are we going to keep talking about Brittany and Santana when we both know I meant you and Quinn?" He asks coolly and spins me around twice. "

"It's far too early to be thinking about marriage Kurt," I reply. "You and Blaine were together eight years before you tied the knot, Brittany and Santana have been together just shy of eight years and they've only just agreed to get married. Quinn and I have only been together three months. Hardly a long time in comparison." It surprises me how easy I find it to continue the pretence that everybody knows as the truth. In reality, Quinn and I have only been together for a day.

The band quiets down and the song they're playing comes to an end and Kurt raises his eyebrow at me. "You can't compare your own relationship to other couples. It may have taken us eight years to finally marry but I always knew Blaine was the man I would marry," he says.

"I thought I would be married to Finn by the time I was eighteen," I tell him. "And look at me now."

"Now you're happier than you ever were with him," he says, waving at his husband and my girlfriend who are already making their way towards us. "I know he's my step-brother but he didn't make you as happy as Quinn does and I really like her so don't let her go Rachel."

"I won't," I promise.

"In that case, I'll look forward to the wedding invite," he says quietly.

"Congratulations Kurt," I say, changing the topic quickly before Quinn comes into earshot. He smiles and I kiss his cheek before he and Blaine walk towards Mercedes and Tina, engaging in a conversation with them right away.

Quinn pecks my lips quickly. Like it's something she does all the time, a quick greeting. "You two looked like you were having a deep conversation."

"Not really," I reply, hoping that she doesn't probe any further. She accepts my answer and pulls me into her body for another dance. "Another dance? Usually you'd have disappeared by now for a cigarette," I tell her before tilting my head to the side in thought. "Actually, come to think of it, I haven't seen you smoke in a couple of days. Are you trying to give it up?"

Quinn chuckles softly. "No, definitely not. I can't give it up, it keeps me sane. I've told you that before."

"Then why haven't you had a cigarette?"

She ducks her head in embarrassment. "After our argument the other night, I lost my temper and threw my lighter on the ground. I smashed it and I didn't bring another one with me. I don't crave cigarettes enough to worry about borrowing matches or a lighter, I'm fine without them" she explains.

"I think you should use this to your advantage and try to give it up."

Quinn shakes her head. "I know you want me to give it up because you hate smoking but you know that I can't."

"You haven't smoked in almost three days," I tell her. "You're already on the way to giving up."

"I'm not a chain smoker babe," she explains. "I can last a few days without a cigarette. I mean I never smoke when I'm in school so I can survive. I just like being able to have the occasional one, especially when I'm stressed."

"I'm not going to be able to make you quit am I?"

She shakes her head before giving my hips a gentle squeeze. "Maybe in the future."

"I guess I can handle that," I reply. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop trying to make you quit."

"I wouldn't expect anything less."

The clinking of a glass brings our attention to the main table where the married couple have now taken their seats, along with their family and the best men. Blaine's best man is his brother, Cooper Anderson while Kurt's best man is, unsurprisingly, Finn. Quinn and I sit down at our designated table while everybody on the dance floor takes their allotted seats. Cooper stands up and starts making his speech, whittling off anecdote after anecdote before talking about his own career, mentioning Blaine and Kurt only once in his ten minute speech.

Finn follows and he looks nervous about speaking in public, which is unusual because he's used to performing in front of large crowds. He starts talking about the first time he met Kurt and how their relationship changed from strangers to enemies to acquaintances to friends and finally to family. He then turns to Blaine and tells him how he's always been a part of the family but today its official. His speech is becoming quiet emotional and I can see his mother, Carol, wiping away tears at his words.

Once Finn is finished, Blaine looks at Kurt, silently deciding who should make their speech first. It looks like they're having a conversation but with just their eyes. Eventually, Blaine stands up and takes Kurt's hand in his.

"Kurt and I were friends for a few months before I gathered the courage to make him something more and part of me has always regretted not making a move earlier but at least he was still an everyday feature in my life," Blaine begins and even though I should listen to the rest of his speech, I find myself looking at Quinn and Blaine's voice becomes more and more distant.

I find myself wondering whether Quinn and I will ever be in this situation, whether we'll have reached the stage in our relationship were we can converse silently with our eyes and whether one day we'll argue silently about who will make the first speech at our own wedding.

"...Even when we were just friends, I knew that he was always meant to be a part of my life and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life making him as happy as he makes me." I manage to catch the end of Blaine's speech and bring my gaze back to the main table. Kurt is crying at his husband's words and I don't expect him to make his own speech any time soon.

He'll need time to calm down and stop crying.

I'm sure I'd be crying if I'd listened to the entire speech.

"That was a beautiful speech," Quinn says as she looks at me and it surprises me but she has tears in her eyes. I quietly agree with her and she smiles.

"I lied to you the other day," I tell her quickly and she cocks her head to the side in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"When I said that you were my present," I explain. "Because you are but you're more than that, you're my future."

Quinn's face is still for a second before she lets out a short laugh and kisses me gently. "That was incredibly cheesy," she says playfully.

I smack her gently in the arm as she beams at me. "Congratulations, you just ruined the moment Quinn."

She reaches out to squeeze my hand and rests her forehead against mine. "Sorry baby, that was very romantic."

"It's too late," I joke. "The moment has passed."

Quinn tries to get me to look at her for the next several minutes but I'm naturally stubborn so I find it incredibly easy to pretend to be stubborn and ignore her. Kurt eventually stands up to start his speech and I glance sideways briefly to see if Quinn is still looking at me and she is. I bring my attention back to Kurt and I can see her smile out of the corner of my eye.

Kurt finishes his speech and everybody starts clapping as he kisses his husband. For the second time, I bring my hands together to join in with the applause and I feel Quinn shuffle closer to me. She places a soft kiss on my temple and brushes a strand of hair over my ear. The applause slowly dies down as Quinn places her lips next to my ear.

"You're my future too Rach," she whispers and I can feel goose-bumps appearing over my entire body. "I love you."

* * *

><p><strong>Seven months later:<strong>

"You'll never guess what came in the mail today," I say and Quinn mumbles an incoherent answer as she takes a bite of her sandwich. I throw a letter in Quinn's direction and it lands in her lap. She puts her sandwich back on her plate and peruses the letter while finishing her mouthful of food.

For the past few weeks Quinn has been busy working during the day and I've been performing on Broadway during the evening so we never really had time to see each other but we made sure that we talked every day, during her lunch break and before I went on stage. We also saw each other every other weekend, providing our workload wasn't too heavy. Today is one of those rare Saturdays where Quinn and I have some free time so we're able to spend more time together. She's coming to see my show for the fifth time tonight and even though I tell her that she must have more important things to do, she simply tells me to be quiet because there's nothing more important than supporting me.

I still don't understand how I managed to get such a devoted, beautiful and caring girlfriend.

"Brittany and Santana's wedding invitation," Quinn finally says after she has swallowed her mouthful of food. "It's addressed to both of us."

"I know," I say. "Although she already knows that it's a yes from you because you're the maid of honour."

"I still don't understand that," Quinn replies, an element of surprise still in her voice.

Santana had asked Quinn to be her maid of honour a couple of weeks ago and I think it surprised everybody. Although in hindsight, it's not surprising, in fact it's obvious. Santana has never really had a best friend, her best friend had been Brittany in high school but then when they started a relationship, she didn't have a best friend outside that relationship. When she met Quinn, although they had initially been frosty towards each other, they grew closer over the week and they stayed in touch after the wedding.

I also made a promise to myself that I would keep in touch with everybody from Glee Club and now wait until the next wedding to see everybody again.

"I do," I say. "At first I was just as surprised as you but it makes sense why she chose you. Trust me."

She accepts my statement and looks over the invitation once more. "Feel free to bring a significant other," she says. "It must be a generic invitation considering you're my significant other and this is addressed to both of us. They know we're going together."

"Oh I don't know, I might ask one of my friends to pretend to be my girlfriend for the wedding," I joke and she smiles slowly. "It might become a tradition at weddings."

"You wouldn't dare," she warns quietly and even though she's joking, her tone is slightly menacing, suggesting that she means it deep down.

She may be devoted, beautiful and caring but Quinn has quite a strong jealous side.

"Why would I need a pretend girlfriend when I have a perfectly real one right here," I say, calming her worries. "I wouldn't replace you for anything."

"Do you think we should tell everybody the truth about our relationship one day?" Quinn asks. "Tell them that when we were at Kurt and Blaine's wedding, we weren't really a couple. I'd love to see all their reactions."

"I think," I say, "that will be a great story for our wedding day."

"Our wedding day?" Quinn repeats lightly.

I blush when I realise what I've just said. "A great story for the future," I correct myself and I'm worried that she's going to linger on the wedding aspect but she just smiles at me and takes a bite of her sandwich.

Several seconds pass before she speaks and I have to strain my ears to hear what she says, since she says it incredibly quiet but I just hear it.

"For the future."

* * *

><p>Deceiving others. That is what the world calls a romance according to Oscar Wilde. If he is to be believed then I guess when Quinn and I started a pretend relationship, we started a romance which would eventually become real. We not only deceived everybody else but we also deceived ourselves. I never expected to have a relationship which started because of a lie but in Oscar Wilde's words, that lie meant that Quinn and I always had the perfect romance.<p>

It just took us longer than the rest of the world to realise.


End file.
